


Guardian Of My Heart

by lollypop21



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), W.I.T.C.H.
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, F/F, F/M, Guardians of Kandrakar, I may add more tags as I go on, Minor Character Death, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, The girlies have to save the world, W.I.T.C.H. AU, with a little Huma and Malvie on the side
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:20:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 49,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23303038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lollypop21/pseuds/lollypop21
Summary: “My dear brothers and sisters, I’m afraid what we have been dreading all along has finally occurred. Powerful dark forces have risen in Metaworld and the Veil is in danger. The Guardians have to start protecting the Earth once again.”“Who are the chosen ones this time?”“Five girls."“Are you sure they are ready?”"They will soon become aware of their abilities. And they will have to learn, quickly, but this is how it is written.”-AU in which our favorite girls are given magical powers and the slightly tricky mission to protect the world.
Relationships: Evie/Mal (Disney), Harry Hook/Uma
Comments: 37
Kudos: 57
Collections: Supernatural Descendants





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! It's me. Back at it again with yet another AU.
> 
> (Don't mind me, my brain is weird. I can never seem to be inspired to write the Descendants characters in the Descendants universe.)
> 
> Anyway. I'm happy you clicked, and I hope you enjoy this first chapter!

Kandrakar.

It was a place like no other, that some would commonly call: infinity. A place with neither time nor space. A realm of great nothingness in the middle of which stood the Great Temple of Congregation. Any being or spirit would get enchanted by its beauty and overwhelming purity, but for now, it was one’s duty to be quiet.

The Oracle was about to speak.

In appearance, he looked like a small man with light greenish skin, who wore a long, emerald robe that stretched to his bare feet. On both sides of his bald head, there was a strange symbol, like tattoos, a partially closed circle with a single dot in the middle. But even though he looked very humanoid, the Oracle was no human. No. The Oracle had existed since the beginning of time itself, and possessed unimaginable dimension-breeching powers. A wise being whose omniscient knowledge enabled him to watch and protect the universe.

And it was for that very matter that the Oracle had summoned the members of the Council of Kandrakar to the Chamber of Aurameres. The most sacred place of the fortress, where all the meetings were held.

The Oracle was in the middle of the wide, amphitheater-like room. He was on his knees but levitated above a small platform, and behind him stood Tibor, his most faithful adviser and friend. Himself, as well as another dozen Council members who all sat around them, awaited the Oracle’s words.

As often, the latter’s eyes were closed.

“My dear brothers and sisters, I’m afraid what we have been dreading all along has finally occurred. Powerful dark forces have risen in Metaworld and the Veil is in danger.” The Oracle spoke. His voice was low like a solemn murmur, but it resonated audibly throughout the whole room. “The Guardians have to start protecting the Earth once again.”  
  
“Who are the chosen ones this time?” one Council member asked respectfully.  
  
“Five girls, Althor,” the Oracle responded.  
  
“Humans? But they are fool, selfish creatures,” another Council member intervened, not hiding her distrust in the humankind. “Haven’t we learned anything from last time?”  
  
“No, Luba. These ones are _magical_ creatures,” the Oracle said with a soft chuckle. “They will complete the task. Nature is their friend, Earth their mother and the Forces of Nature their allies.” He raised both of his hands in front of him as a bright light appeared in between them. “Air.” A silver colored orb of energy came out of the light, and started to float in a circle above his head. “Water.” A turquoise orb joined the first one. “Fire.” Followed an orange orb. “Earth.” Then a green one. “And the Keeper of the Heart.” The last of the orbs of energy, a pink one, rose with the other four above the Oracle’s head.

The five little orbs formed a perfect circle above the Oracle, that elevated higher and higher towards the ceiling. At the same time, something appeared in the pond that surrounded the platform where the Oracle and Tibor were.

Pictures. Five of them. Of five human teenage girls.

The Guardians of Kandrakar.

“They all seem very young, Oracle,” a concerned Council member said. “Are you sure they are ready?”

The Oracle nodded. “They are young indeed. But they have been chosen. They will soon become aware of their abilities. And they will have to learn, quickly, but this is how it is written.”

The five orbs of energy broke away from the circle they were in all at once, and each of them came to rest above the picture of one girl. And as their glow intensified, they all began to merge with the pictures.

“The Veil is theirs to protect. And the harmony between the worlds is theirs to maintain.”

* * *

Mal was late for school.

The wind hissed in her ears as she pressed as hard as she could on the pedals of her bike, handlebar in one hand and half eaten bagel in the other. _Stupid alarm clock_. Of course the batteries had to die overnight, which resulted in the loud banging at her bedroom door, curtesy of her beloved mother, fifteen minutes before the time she was actually supposed to leave the house.

 _God damn it_.

It wasn’t the first time that she was late, and it would certainly not be the last, but it didn’t mean that she particularly liked it. Especially when they had Mr. Collins first period. She hoped he was in a good mood. Their dear history teacher had this _slight_ though highly _irking_ tendency to kick out students who arrived after him and it had already happened to Mal too many times to count.

That made her pedal faster.

She sighed of relief when Auradon Prep finally came into view. If she hurried just a little bit more, she would only be ten minutes late, which was honestly not so bad. She had done far worse. In need of both of her hands, she balanced the last of her bagel between her teeth, jumped off her bike to park it in front of the massive stone building and secured the lock in place. Then, all while flipping her blonde hair to the side to swing her bag over her back, she stormed inside the entrance hall.

“Excuse me?”

Mal turned on her heel and there her eyes met with one of the prettiest – if not _the_ prettiest – girl she had ever had the chance to see in her whole sixteen years of life. She was a good four inches taller than her, fair skinned with jet black hair falling down her shoulders in loose waves, and a pair of twinkling walnut colored eyes. She was wearing a loose navy blue blouse with a black faux leather pleated skater skirt, black stockings and black ankle boots. Her cheeks were slightly rosy, and she had a little embarrassed smile on her face that Mal found utterly adorable.

There was no one else here so this girl had to be calling for her, right?

“Hi, sorry. Could you help me? I just got here and I think I’m already lost.”

She tried to speak, and that was when she realized that her bagel was still in her mouth. Fucking great. That was typical Mal. Always making a fool of herself in front of pretty girls. Or girls in general. Or just about anyone. Groaning at her own stupidity, she chewed and swallowed her food as fast as she could.

“Hey, I-I, um, y-yeah of course.”

_And now you’re stuttering. Way to go, Mal._

But the other girl didn’t seem to mind. She held up the piece of paper in her hand.

“Thanks. I’m supposed to be in math class with Mrs. Rudolf right now but I have no idea where room 4C is.”

Mal found herself thinking surprisingly fast. Math, Mrs. Rudolf… Right! That was what Audrey and Melody had now too. “Of course, room 4C. So that’s first floor—”

“Ms. Bertha!” a stern voice bellowed behind them.  
  
“Ah shit. Here we go again,” Mal muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes.

Coming towards them was Ms. Knickerbocker, the principal. A woman with a passion for depressing gray pantsuits and whose greying hair was always in complex banana updos. Behind her rectangles spectacles, her steel-like azure eyes never left Mal as her lips curled.

“I see you _still_ haven’t found a way to get to school on time,” she scolded the young blonde girl.  
  
“Ms. Knickerbocker—”  
  
“I think I might be responsible for that, Miss,” the brunette girl next to her intervened politely, getting the principal’s attention. “It’s my first day here, she was showing me the way.”  
  
“Is that so. Well you wouldn’t have had this issue if you, too, arrived on time, would you?”

The girl bowed her head gracefully. “I know, my apologies. But my mother and I just arrived in town late last night and I had some trouble finding my way through the boxes this morning.”

Mal felt a weird warm sensation at the pit of her stomach. Gosh. Could this girl be any cuter?

“Hmm. And you are?” Ms. Knickerbocker looked only half convinced.  
  
“Evie Grimhilde.”  
  
“Alright, very well Ms. Grimhilde.” The principal pulled out two pieces of paper from the folder she was holding and began to scribble on them. “Ms. Bertha will show you the way to your first class. And you will both give these to your respective teachers—” She handed a paper to each girl. “—so they know you are excused. Now hurry up, get to class!”  
  
“Okay, come on,” Mal said to Evie before she made her way to the staircase.

She waited until they were out of Ms. Knickerbocker’s sight to let out a long sigh.

“Whew. That was close.”  
  
“I’m sorry I almost got you in trouble,” Evie said gently.

Mal risked looking her way, a small smile tugging at her lips. Damn, she was like, _really_ pretty. “Nah, it’s okay. You heard her, it’s not the first time she catches me. Though it’s the first time I actually get a pass so I should actually be thanking you.”

Evie giggled at that, “You’re welcome, then.”

Mal felt hot in the face and she decided to fix her eyes ahead of her so her hair would act as a shield. That had been enough embarrassment for one morning already.

Within the next minute, they were in front of Mrs. Rudolf’s classroom.

“So this is it, room 4C,” Mal announced. “You’ll see. Mrs. Rudolf is actually pretty cool for a math teacher.”

Evie smiled down at her again. “Okay. Thank you so much.”

“Um, you’re welcome. Have a good one and um, I’ll catch you later, maybe?”  
  
“Sure, see you.”

Thankfully, Evie got inside immediately afterwards and so Mal took off to her own class, preventing herself from turning into any more of a stuttering mess. But, to her greatest displeasure, Mr. Collins didn’t miss a beat to make her late arrival even more noticeable than it already was.

“Ah, look who finally decided to show up.”

 _Fucking hell_.

About twenty pairs of eyes landed on Mal at once. She said nothing and just walked to his desk with her head hanging low to give him her permission slip, then went straight to her usual desk behind her two friends.

Directly in front of her was Jane, with her sweet childlike face, shoulder length dark brown locks and one of her signature bows in it. And next to her, an athletic brown skinned girl with curly hair and a playful glow in her chocolate eyes, Uma. Both of them were staring at her expectantly.

“Yeah, thanks for _finally_ gracing us with your _distinguished_ presence, Malie.” Uma told the girl with a taunting smirk.  
  
“How many times will I have to tell you not to call me that,” Mal grunted as she pulled her book out.  
  
“Just about a thousand times more. So what is it this time? One of your stuffed dragons set your pillows on fire?”

They all knew what Uma was referring to and Mal huffed in annoyance. The week prior, the blonde had told her friends about how she had woken up to the smell of burned cotton and holes in her bed sheets. And since there were no candles or other things that could produce flames in her bedroom – especially not near her bed – Mal had completely flipped her shit.

Of course the others didn’t take her seriously. How could they, they weren’t there. But Mal knew she wasn’t crazy – or at least she hoped she wasn’t – and she knew what she saw. It _happened,_ even though she still couldn’t explain how. Ever since, they teased her about it any chance they got.

“Don’t be silly Uma.” Jane muffled a laugh with her hand. “It would’ve burned her hair too.”  
  
“Ugh, shut up, both of you,” Mal said through gritted teeth. “Alarm clock died. And when I got here I helped the new girl find her class. Knickerbocker gave me a pass.”  
  
“How nice of you,” Jane commented.

Uma raised an eyebrow. “New girl huh. What’s she like?”

“Um, tall, brunette. I think she said her name was Evie.” Mal shrugged, purposely omitting the ‘prettiest girl to ever grace this school’s grounds’ part. “She’s in Audrey and Melody’s class.”  
  
_“Ahem.”_ Mr. Collins cleared his throat at the three girls before any of them could speak again, obviously not pleased by the fact that they haven’t been paying attention to what he was saying at all. “If you three would allow me, I would like to start my test.”  
  
“What? There’s a test?” Mal exclaimed, rather loudly, causing a fit of laughter among all of her classmates.  
  
“Oh, yeah, he said that before you came,” Uma said.

* * *

Lunch break. Mal, Uma and Jane met with their two other friends and they all sat at their usual table in the cafeteria.

Audrey, the one with flawless tanned skin and impeccable chestnut brown curls, the little modern-day city princess of their group – or so she thought – and then there was Melody, all thick raven colored hair and big aqua blue eyes, who for once wasn’t her usual outgoing self and ate her food without saying a word.

“So Mel, is there anything you’d like to share with the rest of us?” Audrey said, leaning on her elbows and giving her friend an intense look like she knew something the others didn’t.

(That was exactly the case.)

“No, nothing.” Melody groaned while furrowing her eyebrows at her.  
  
“Now hold on.” Uma lifted a hand in front of her and leaned forward to have a closer look at the sulky black haired girl. “I’ve seen that face before.”  
  
“Me too. It’s one that I know way too well,” Mal agreed.  
  
“Guys please—” Melody started to argue, but it was pointless.  
  
“I know, right?” Uma pointed her fork in her direction. “That is the look of someone—”  
  
“—who’s just flunked a test!” Mal finished with a mischievous smirk, and Uma fist bumped her. “And in that case I’d say we’re dealing with a fat, filthy ‘F’.”

Melody rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Ugh, thanks Audrey. Okay, fine, I got an F in biology. Happy?”

“Well duh! You know what this means?” Uma rejoiced.  
  
“Punishment!” Jane excitedly clapped her hands.  
  
“Aww guys come on! Can’t y’all look the other way just this one time?” Melody pleaded in a whine.  
  
“Nope, the law’s the law. You can’t just bypass our rules,” Audrey said matter-of-factly.  
  
“And for a really bad grade, we need something really nasty,” Uma pointed out.

And Audrey had just the perfect idea, a glint of malice in her piercing mahogany eyes. “I say it’s time for Lady Melody over here to take some serious biolo- _Jay_ lessons.”

“Good one, princess.” Mal cackled.

The raven haired girl blushed hard at the mention of the older long haired boy she had had a hopeless crush on for six whole months, whom she never even talked to – apart from a few awkward _hi_ ’s – despite the fact that she had his name written in the corners of several pages of her notebooks. “Leave Jay out of this!”

“Of course! We should dare her to ask Jay out on a date,” Jane suggested with a snap of her fingers.  
  
“Oh, look there’s Evie.” Melody suddenly pointed to where the girl in question had just entered the cafeteria. At this point she was desperate for anything that could save her from this oh so agonizing conversation. “Evie!” She caught the girl’s attention, beckoning her over.  
  
“Uh, what are you doing?” Audrey glared.

Melody frowned reproachfully. “Inviting her to eat lunch with us, what do you think. She seems nice, unlike y’all.”

“Is that the new girl?” Uma asked.  
  
“Yeah,” Audrey answered flatly.

Evie walked up to their table with a shy smile on her face upon seeing the five girls staring at her.

“Hey, you wanna sit with us?” Melody offered kindly.

But Evie felt as though she wasn’t being given much choice, as Melody had already grabbed an empty chair that was near to put it between herself and Jane. “Um, yeah thanks.”

“Everyone, this is Evie.” The girl gave a small wave of her hand as Melody went on with the introduction. “Evie, this is Jane, Uma, Mal, and you know Audrey already.”  
  
“Mal too, actually. We met before class,” Evie revealed and flashed a smile at the green eyed girl.

She was unaware that that simple statement had just caused a major heatwave within Mal, who greedily drank from her water bottle to play it off.

“Oh geez. Not much of a first impression, isn’t it? Running into this one first thing in the morning?” Uma couldn’t help but tease.  
  
“Shut the fuck up dude.” Mal rolled her eyes at her. “Anyway. Don’t you think we’re done with you and your F, Melody.”  
  
“Not in my sweetest dreams,” said girl muttered.  
  
“Speaking of grades, Uma, you’ve got history in the bag right? I can’t believe that spell of yours worked again,” Jane said with unconcealed admiration.  
  
“Damn it J, can you be any louder?” Uma groaned with a roll of her eyes.  
  
“What spell?” Melody asked curiously.  
  
“It’s nothing.”

She tried to make Jane stop talking by attempting to shove her palm against the girl’s mouth, but Jane grabbed her wrist in time and ignored her reluctance. “She controlled the test again!”

“Ughh Jane!”  
  
“What, it’s true! When Mr. Collins first announced the test you freaked out and told me the cold war was all you could manage. And then you start wishing under your breath before he starts writing the questions on the board, and oh, what are they about? Cold war.”  
  
“Probably just a coincidence.” Audrey shrugged.  
  
“I’d say that too if it was the first time. But she’s already done it three times before,” Jane said.

Uma kissed her teeth. “Remind me to never share any more secrets with you.”

“Well if it was that big of a secret you wouldn’t be doing it so plainly in front of us,” Mal said.

Meanwhile, Evie just sat through their banter in silence since she didn’t really want to put her two cents in, but she thought it was very funny to watch. She liked these girls’ dynamic already. The five of them all seemed to have really diverse backgrounds and personalities and it was one of the things she liked the most within groups of friends. She could see herself hanging out with her more often.

Nonetheless, she was a bit taken aback and low-key impressed by what she was hearing. _Controlling tests?_

“Goodness’ sake. You see what these losers put me through on a daily?”

It took Evie a second or two to realize that Uma was talking to her. “But never mind. You couldn’t have shown up at a better time. The Halloween party’s tonight and everyone’s going.”

Mal perked up. “Hey, I never—”

“Uh, excuse me what was that?” Uma cut her off. “You’re coming too, sucker.”  
  
“Were you seriously thinking about skipping it, Mal?” Melody shot the girl a look.  
  
“You know I don’t really like dressing up and all that,” Mal argued with a pout.  
  
“Who cares, it’s a costume party. No one’s gonna notice how ugly you are,” Uma blurted.

Evie couldn’t help the tiny gasp that left her mouth. That was… harsh, sort of, and unexpected.

Mal turned on her seat, fully facing the other girl, and her fish clenched on the table. “Call me ugly one more time, _Shrimpy_ ,” she said in a low growl.

“Oh you wanna play like that?”

And so they went on throwing insults and snarky remarks at each other. _Well, shit._ That escalated quickly. Evie’s eyes flickered between the two of them worriedly… but she was clearly the only one. The others weren’t even paying attention.

Still Evie spoke, hesitantly, her voice thick with concern, “Um, are they…”

“Yeah don’t worry about that. It’s not a normal day if Mal and Uma don’t bicker at least a dozen times,” Jane explained as casually as if she was talking about the next day’s weather, while she peeled a tangerine.

But from her spot on Evie’s left, Melody took ahold of the girl’s upper arm and pulled her towards her so she could say in a very, very low and serious tone in her ear, “But don’t _ever_ call Uma ‘Shrimpy’ though, because she _will_ rock your shit. She hates it, and Mal’s the only one who gets away with it for some reason.”

Walnut eyes widened at the intense warning. Audrey, who must’ve understood what Melody had just done, slowly shook her head from left to right while mouthing ‘ _never_ ’ and the message couldn’t be any clearer for the other brunette.

“Okay, got it.”

Fortunately, the blonde and curly haired girls were still too busy going off on each other to have noticed the exchange.

“With that said, believe it or not, they love each other very much,” Audrey said, louder so they could actually hear it this time, as she leaned back in her seat.  
  
“It’s tough love,” Uma responded, ending the argument at last.  
  
“Bitch,” was all Mal said before focusing back on her food.

Uma blew her a kiss.

“So you’re coming to the party too, right, Evie?” Jane asked the brunette with hope filled eyes.  
  
“Sure, why not, I’ll just have to ask my mom,” Evie said with a chuckle. “I don’t know if I packed any costumes though.”

Uma clicked her tongue. “I trust you’ll find something. Because no one, I repeat, _no one_ —” she dragged those last words while shooting Mal a don’t-you-dare-contradict-me glare. “—is showing up without a costume.”

“You talk a lot but what’s your obnoxious ass gonna wear?” the blonde retorted.  
  
“You’ll see tonight… _Malie_.”  
  
“For fuck’s sake, Uma!”

* * *

Evie was late… again.

It turned out that convincing her mother to let her go to the Halloween party hadn’t been the most difficult task of the afternoon. On the contrary, the older Grimhilde woman had been thrilled that her daughter was already making friends in her new school, and had actually offered to drop her off so she wouldn’t have to take the bus while dressed up.

What took longer, as she had expected, was rummaging through the ton of unpacked boxes that were still scattered around her bedroom to find something that would make a decent costume. Evie almost jumped to the ceiling when at last, she found the white tunic she had worn for her former school’s play, where she had starred as the Greek goddess Artemis. Not the least bit scary, but it would do. She did her hair and makeup as fast as she could but still ended up pulling up to Auradon Prep an hour and a half after the beginning of the party.

“Twice in one day, I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who’s got a recurring punctuality problem.”

The voice startled Evie, albeit only for a second because she quickly recognized it. She turned to see Mal crouched down next to her bike, mouth curved up into a smirk that allowed her to peep the edge of a pointed canine. The blonde was rocking black from head to toe. Leather pants, crop top, leather jacket, nail polish and Dr Martens. And if the fangs hadn’t already given her costume away, the makeup on her face and the fake blood dripping from the corner of her lips gave her a cadaverous look.

Cute and simple, Evie thought, but efficient. It suited her. She grinned widely as the girl walked up to her.

“That’s not true, I’m usually very punctual. But my whole life is still in boxes right now and I had to find an outfit,” Evie said. “What’s your excuse?”

Mal shrugged. “Don’t have one, don’t need one, that’s just how I roll.”

That made Evie laugh, “Oh, okay. Well that’s good to know.”

Before they resumed walking, Mal took a moment to analyze the other girl’s costume – and not checking her out, thank you very much indeed – and clicked her tongue in thought.

“I recognize Greek divinity.” She tilted her head to the side, only now noticing the object behind Evie’s back that poked out from underneath her jacket. “A bow, huh. I’d say, Artemis?”  
  
“Good guess!”

Mal smiled proudly which fully exposed the fangs, and Evie smirked before she came up with her next ‘joke’. “You’re not planning to suck the life out of me now though, are you?”

Mal laughed but at the same time she was actually choking on air. Evie thought it was because her joke was funny. What she _didn’t_ know that it was because in Mal’s mind, there was a little _too much_ innuendo behind that statement (some of it a wee inappropriate).

“No worries.” She almost struggled to say. “That treatment is reserved for Uma.”

The party was held in the school’s gym, that opened onto the main yard. There was a giant crafted pumpkin made of wire and bright orange papier-mâché in the middle of it, and inside, several black and orange garlands and fake bats hanging from the walls and the ceiling. They left their jackets to a makeshift cloakroom service and it didn’t take long for them to spot Uma and Jane in the crowd afterwards.

The former looked ready to sail and plunder in a teal and black pirate outfit. Underneath her tricorn hat, her hair was straightened and reached her shoulder blades, and she even had a sword sheath at her belt. And the latter made a very convincing Dorothy from _The Wizard of Oz_ , from the braided pigtails to the little white and blue dress and ruby red slippers.

When they reached them, Uma let out a loud groan and rolled her teal-circled eyes so hard that Evie saw the white part of them for about two seconds.

“Really Mal, a vampire?” she said to the girl instead of a proper greeting. “What am I saying. I’m not even surprised.”  
  
“Hey, at least I’m wearing a costume,” Mal protested, throwing her hands up. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Uma looked like she wanted to argue, but instead she shrugged, while taking a real, good look at Mal’s attire. “Yeah, yeah, it’s fine actually. You look… dead.”

‘Well that’s kind of the point.” Mal scoffed. “But thanks. You look like a criminal.”  
  
“Aww, thanks!” Uma cooed in response.

Although those were some weird compliments, it was the softest Evie had heard them speak to each other thus far (yes, she’d barely known them for a day, so what?). Or at least it was until Mal asked, “Is that sword real?”

“Are those fangs real?” Uma replied, back in all her sassy sarcastic glory. “Of course it’s not, you dumbass!”

Well, someone did say once that you could never have too much of a good thing, right? Jane shook her head at the two girls, turning to Evie.

“That’s a nice costume! Can you shoot?” she pointed to the bow and arrows the girl had brought along.

Evie smiled. “Thanks, yours is very well done too. And I did learn, a while ago. I’m not sure this is the right place to try my hand at it again though.”

“Yeah, me neither. I’m happy you could make it.”  
  
“Thank you. Me too. My mom was surprisingly easy to convince.”  
  
“There they are, almost two hours late. And I thought Audrey was the only diva here,” Melody’s voice resounded behind them, as she was coming towards them with Audrey and a smirk on her face.

Mal’s features covered in confusion at the sight of the ensemble the black haired girl had on. “Wonder Woman? I thought you said you were gonna be a mermaid.”

“Yeah, I did. But I changed my mind last minute,” Melody explained before spinning on the spot. “I look like her right?” She did. Very much. “Plus this is a lot easier to move in.”  
  
“I like your costume a lot,” Evie told Audrey truthfully.

The lighter brunette was wearing a pink tutu sort of dress with a big white bow at the back that reached a couple inches above her knees, with the matching suede heels at her feet and a flower crown atop her head. At the compliment, she straightened her back as much as she could with her chin held high and a charming smile.

“Thank you. I wore this for one of my ballet recitals.”  
  
“You do ballet?” Evie didn’t conceal her amazement.  
  
“Yeah, I just said that. I have since I was four.”  
  
“She’s our little ballerina diva,” Melody teased as she put her hands on the girl’s shoulders and shook them a little.

Meanwhile, Uma was walking around them with her phone out, taking selfies. “Holy shit, we look so fucking bomb guys! We should—ah!” She beamed when the designated photographer for the night, a boy with glasses in a mummy costume, walked past them. “Hey, mummy boy! Can you take a picture of us?

“Sure!” he said, and the girls hit their poses. Except, the boy just stood there looking at them (more precisely at Evie but they couldn’t know that) with his mouth slightly agape like a kid seeing Santa Claus for the first time and debating whether he was real or not.

“Uh, David, the picture please?” Uma snapped her fingers at him.

This made him snap out of his thoughts and he shook his head. “My name is Doug actually but… never mind.” He raised the camera to his face. “Smile, ladies!”

* * *

Speaking of smiles, a wide one stretched the Oracle’s lips.

“Look, Tibor. There they are. The Guardians.”

Still accompanied by his loyal friend, he looked fondly at the cloud of white smoke that formed some kind of screen before them, where the picture of the girls that was taken just seconds before was displayed.

“They’re already together,” he added in a quiet, satisfied voice.  
  
“But are they associated yet?” Tibor questioned.  
  
“It won’t take long. The secret will soon be revealed,” was the Oracle’s response.

Tibor still stared at the picture, uncertain. “But, Oracle, there are six girls here.”

“I know. Unfortunately, their growing bond holds a betrayal inside,” the wise being spoke knowingly. “One of them will turn her back on the others.”

* * *

It was close to midnight. The AKs, a music band comprised of Auradon Prep students, had just finished their performance under the cheers of everyone. Even from the ones who didn’t dance, which included Mal and Audrey (one didn’t like dancing and the other simply hadn’t wanted to).

They were joined by the rest of the girls as the DJ took over.

“Damn, who is _that_?” Melody unexpectedly asked with her finger pointing towards the main entrance.

She was referring to the tall boy with long blond hair who had just entered the building. He was wearing a long dark brown cloak and although a red masquerade mask covered the top part of his face, they could all – except Evie – agree on the fact that they had never seen him at school before.

“I have no idea but he’s kinda cute,” Jane giggled timidly.  
  
“He’s wearing a mask, Jane,” Audrey pointed out as she glared at the girl.  
  
“So?”  
  
“I don’t know about you guys, but I think this guy’s perfect for Melody’s punishment.” Mal said impudently.  
  
“I don’t mind. I bet he gives excellent biology lessons.” Melody began to fix her hair and adjusted her strapless top on her chest.  
  
“Damn. Where was that energy when it was about Jay?” Uma raised her eyebrows at their friend’s sudden though not unusual flirty behavior.  
  
“You guys are just so fucking annoying. I’m going.”

She walked away, only turning back to them to send them a playful wink.

“Okay, betting time. You think she’ll score?” Audrey crossed her arms with a sneer on her face as she watched Melody introduce herself to the guy. “I say no.”

Jane disagreed. “I think she will, she looks pretty determined.”

“Shit. It’s way too easy. She’s like, a total flirt with anyone who isn’t Jay,” Mal said, and it was the absolute truth.  
  
“Which is why we should’ve stuck with him. But now yeah, she’ll definitely succeed.” Uma sighed. “What do you say Evie?”  
  
“I… I…”

But the girl was… not feeling good, all of a sudden. There was this strange buzzing in her ears, that caused her vision to blur and her head to spin slightly. She stumbled to the side, bumping against Audrey who was about to snap until she saw the dazed expression on Evie’s face.

“Whoa. Are you okay?”

Evie brought a hand to her head to steady herself, and eventually the feeling began to go away. “Y-yeah, I just felt dizzy for a second. Don’t know why.”

“Well it’s kinda hot in here. Maybe you need some fresh air,” Mal suggested.  
  
“We’ll come with you,” Jane declared.  
  
“Yeah, do that. I’ll bring you some water,” Uma said.

So while the girls headed outside, the brown skinned girl went to the ‘bar’ to fill a paper cup with cool water, where she heard snickering next to her. She scoffed as she glanced sideways. It was Uriah and his gang of goons. Scoundrels with greasy hair whose favorite hobby was to get in all kinds of trouble and bully innocent kids, as well as being brainless idiots. Except for this one smaller boy with ruffled black and white hair, Carlos, who looked way too smart, too clean and too sweet to be hanging out with them. Uma never understood that but hey, it was none of her business after all. Which was why she usually wouldn’t pay attention to them but when Carlos spoke, the concern in his voice was noticeable despite the music playing and it got her attention.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have done that.”  
  
“Who the fuck cares,” Uriah grumbled. “It’s gonna be spectacular.”

That answer didn’t seem to satisfy the other boy at all. “But it might be dangerous. What if someone gets hurt?”

“Will you shut it, Carlos? You’re ruining the fun.”

They were gone after that but Uma stood there in disbelief. It wouldn’t actually be the first (and certainly not the last) time that these boys tried to cause mischief, but it had never endangered anything or anyone. So… what the hell?

But then she remembered what she came here for in the first place and met the girls outside of the building.

“You feeling better?” she asked Evie as she handed her the cup.  
  
“Yes, thank you.”

While the brunette drank her water in big gulps, Uma turned to the others. “I overheard Uriah and co talking inside. They’re up to something.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Mal said casually with a shrug of her shoulders.  
  
“Carlos was worried about people getting hurt though.”  
  
“It’s probably one of their stupid pranks, nothing to worry about.” Audrey looked bored as she rolled her eyes.

But Uma wasn’t totally convinced. “Hmm’yeah. Maybe.”

A few minutes later, the music stopped inside the gym and Ms. Knickerbocker’s was heard through the speakers, followed by loud applause and whistles.

“What’s going on?” Evie asked.  
  
“It’s midnight, someone’s gonna get elected best costume and they’ll have to light that pumpkin on fire. It’s a tradition,” Jane explained excitedly, looking as though she had been looking forward to this moment all along.

Loads of people were starting to make their way outside, clapping and chanting loudly. The winner happened to be a rather hefty boy who had painted any visible part of his skin in a dull gray blueish color, and the makeup on his face made it look like the half of it was scabbing and falling apart. He was making growling sounds as he walked alongside Ms. Knickerbocker, in a long black dress and a pointed hat, who was holding up a torch.

“And I get why this one was chosen. Wow. His costume is _very_ realistic,” Audrey remarked, her face a mix of disgusted and genuinely impressed.  
  
“Yeah, that’s fucking dope,” Uma agreed with an amused smirk, getting closer for a better view.

He took the torch from the principal’s hands, put it on the pumpkin that immediately caught on fire. The boy stepped away, screaming victoriously and throwing his arms in the air as the crowd cheered for him.

But then…

_POW!_

In the middle of the yard, the fake pumpkin exploded in a thunderous blast. Smoke and fire rushed out, dozens of red-hot pieces of flaming papier-mâché, and other flying objects, went sent in every direction.

“Shit, there are _rockets_ in there!” Uma screamed in huge panic. “That must be what Uriah was talking about!  
  
“Uma! Watch out!”

That was barely enough time for the girl to register Mal’s warning and make a side dive for the ground before a rocket flew just inches by where her face had previously been.

“Quick guys we have to get out of here!” Audrey urged them to move.

It was chaos in the yard. The fire was spreading. Students screamed and ran frantically to take cover as more rockets were hurled from the blaze with menacing hissing sounds. One of them landed inside a trash can, making it explode as well, and Evie, who was near, was propelled onto the ground, hard. The flames were close, far too close to the brunette while she tried to come back to her senses and get back up as fast as she could.

Mal stopped dead in her tracks at the dreadful sight. “Evie!” And, without the slightest idea why, arms stretched out in front of her like they had a mind of their own with her palms outwards, she yelled. “ _NO!_ ”

What happened next was unbelievable.

As if commanded by her voice, the fire came to a violent halt then retreated with a _whoosh_ sound, right before Evie’s eyes that were wide with fear. But Mal didn’t take the time to ponder the matter and rushed to her side to help her to her feet.

“Come on, get up, we have to go!”

They ran without looking back until they reached the front yard of the main building. In a distance, the sounds of fire extinguishers could already be heard as well as faint screams, but the five girls were out of danger. Out of breath and in pure shock, but safe at last.

Evie’s knees gave in making her fall on the grass, panting heavily as she put a hand on her chest over her hammering heart. “Oh my God, oh my God…”

“It-it’s okay, it’s okay. We’re safe.” Mal leaned her back against the bark of a tree trying to catch her breath, her legs sort of felt like jelly.  
  
“Guys, what about Melody? Has anyone seen her out there?” Uma asked in an unusually high-pitched voice. She had lost her pirate hat in the stampede and looked every bit like someone who had just ran for her life from a fire.  
  
“Just texted her. She’s fine,” Audrey answered, her shaky fingers typing at her phone. “She said she’s getting our jackets.”  
  
“Thank goodness. It’s getting pretty fucking cold,” Uma said as she wrapped one of her arms around Jane’s shoulders, who was standing very stiff and seemed to be on the verge of tears.

If they weren’t bothered by the chilly night air before due to the drastic turn of events and the adrenaline, they were certainly feeling it now.

Audrey looked up from her phone. “What’s yours like Evie?”

“It’s… it’s a navy blue cargo jacket.”

Not a word was said afterwards, and it was Jane who broke the silence a moment later.

“Mal,” she called, her voice reduced to a shuddering whisper. “The f-fire, you…”

The three other girls looked over at the blonde with the same bewildered expressions on their faces, obviously thinking about the exact same thing.

“You s-saved my life,” Evie finished in a murmur. “H-how did you do that?”

Yeah, how could’ve Mal made these flames draw back just by _ordering_ them to?

But looking back, the girl herself was just as clueless. “I… I don’t know guys.” She rose her hands and stared at them like she didn’t recognize them as a part of her body anymore. “I really don’t know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I unexpectantly stumbled across the W.I.T.C.H. comics a week or so ago and since I was pretty much obsessed with them in middle school, I got an idea. And then, well, this AU was born. 
> 
> Tell me what you think about it guys! I'm totally giving myself a challenge here because the way I see in in my head, it'll be a _looong_ freaking journey. But if you like it I'll be even happier to continue it :)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi folks! Welcome to chapter 2 of GOMH!
> 
> Audrey's grandmother makes her debut in this one, and I must tell you that for the sake of the plot, I made her a lot older than what's depicted in the movies. So keep in mind that she's in her mid or late eighties or something.
> 
> With that said, enjoy :)

**Uma @ Bitch gang:** _So we gonna talk about it or what_

 **Mal @ Bitch gang:** _Talk about what_

 **Uma @ Bitch gang:** _Hmmm idk, maybe the fucking pink elephant in the fucking room?_  
**Uma @ Bitch gang:** _Wake up bitch we almost died in a fucking fire yesterday!!!!_

 **Audrey @ Bitch gang:** _Stop being dramatic, we didn’t “almost die”_

 **Jane @ Bitch gang** : _It felt like it though_

 **Uma @ Bitch gang:** _Yeah don’t act like you weren’t scared as hell too princess_

 **Audrey @ Bitch gang:** _I was but we didn’t almost die_

 **Uma @ Bitch gang:** _Okay whateverrrr_  
**Uma @ Bitch gang:** _Y’all good?_

 **Jane @ Bitch gang:** _I’m trying to do this worksheet Mrs. Rudolf gave us so you know I’m not_

 **Mal @ Bitch gang:** _Shit... I forgot bout this one. I’m at the supermarket_

 **Audrey @ Bitch gang:** _I desperately need a full body massage_  
**Audrey @ Bitch gang:** _Mel, you do them well. Come over I’ll pay you_

 **Melody @ Bitch gang:** _Hahahaha aw sorry boo_  
**Melody @ Bitch gang:** [picture of her legs in a pair of blue sweatpants, stretched out on her couch with the TV playing in a distance]  
**Melody @ Bitch gang:** _I am: chilling ;)_

 **Audrey @ Bitch gang:** _:’(_

 **Jane @ Bitch gang:** _Has somebody checked on Evie though? She kinda got it rough yesterday. I wonder how she’s doing_

 **Audrey @ Bitch gang:** _I don’t have her number_

 **Mal @ Bitch gang:** _Me neither_

 **Melody @ Bitch gang:** _I do_

 **Uma @ Bitch gang:** _Bruh_  
**Uma @ Bitch gang** : _She always got everybody’s number_  
**Uma @ Bitch gang:** _How come she always got everybody’s number_

**Melody added Evie to Bitch gang**

**Jane @ Bitch gang:** _Hey Evie!_

 **Evie @ Bitch gang:** _Hello :)_

 **Mal @ Bitch gang:** _Hi! :D_

 **Audrey @ Bitch gang:** _Hello there_

 **Uma @ Bitch gang:** _Waddup girl_

 **Mal @ Bitch gang:** _You’re okay?_

 **Evie @ Bitch gang:** _Yeah, my mom and I are unpacking ^.^_

 **Melody @ Bitch gang:** _Okay so now that we’re all here and less shook, tell me again what happened yesterday_

 **Jane @ Bitch gang:** _It’s like we said Mel_

 **Uma @ Bitch gang:** _Uriah put firecrackers and rockets inside the Halloween pumpkin and that shit explOded_  
**Uma @ Bitch gang:** _btw you never told us where tf you were when all of this went down_

 **Audrey @ Bitch gang:** _Probably in some dark corner making out with her masked stranger_

 **Jane @ Bitch gang:** _Oopsie_

 **Mal @ Bitch gang:** _Okay maybe she snapped_

 **Melody @ Bitch gang:** _His name is Cedric and fyi we didn’t make out at all... but that’s beside the point. I was actually talking about what you said about Mal and the fire_

 **Uma @ Bitch gang:** _Well the bitch is here ask her_

 **Mal @ Bitch gang:** _I’ll fucking punch you_  
**Mal @ Bitch gang:** _& I already told you guys, idk how I did it_  
**Mal @ Bitch gang:** _I saw Evie fall and next thing I know I was screaming no and the fire went back_  
**Mal @ Bitch gang** : _It was just like I didn’t even have to think, my body knew what to do_  
**Mal @ Bitch gang:** _I can’t tell you more than that_

**Uma renamed the group Malie the fire whisperer**

**Mal @ Malie the fire whisperer:** _Dude that’s not even a little funny_

 **Uma @ Malie the fire whisperer:** _It is to me_

 **Mal @ Malie the fire whisperer:** _You’re insufferable_

**Mal renamed the group Shrimpy the pirate clown**

**Mal @ Shrimpy the pirate clown:** _hehehe x)_

 **Uma @ Shrimpy the pirate clown:** _BITCH I’LL SLAUGHTER YOUR PALLID ASS_

 **Audrey @ Shrimpy the pirate clown:** _Can you two STOP?!? This is serious!_

**Audrey renamed the group Auradon’s finest**

**Audrey @ Auradon’s finest:** _I swear you guys are a bunch of 5-year-olds!_

 **Melody @ Auradon’s finest:** _Y’all done?_  
**Melody @ Auradon’s finest:** _So I was about to say maybe it was just the wind that pushed the fire_

 **Evie @ Auradon’s finest:** _It wasn’t the wind.._

 **Jane @ Auradon’s finest:** _There was only a light breeze last night. Definitely not powerful enough to move flames like this_  
**Jane @ Auradon’s finest:** _We all saw it Mel. Mal did that_

 **Melody @ Auradon’s finest:** _Okay, if you say so_

 **Jane @ Auradon’s finest:** _We know so_

 **Melody @ Auradon’s finest** : _That’s super-duper weird_

 **Mal @ Auradon’s finest:** _Who you tellin’_

 **Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _Speaking of weird. I need to tell y’all about this dream I had last night_  
**Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _As if nearly burning to death wasn’t enough_

 **Audrey @ Auradon’s finest:** _Here she goes again with the dramatics_

 **Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _So I was floating in the sky sort of and there was this big white castle in a distance, and then these shapes standing in the clouds that looked like people_  
**Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _expect I could only see their eyes_  
**Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _It was a bit scary bc it felt so real… idk how to explain_  
**Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _That place, those people, the sounds, even the smells. It didn’t feel like it was in my head, but like I was actually in there_  
**Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _And then this symbol appeared in the sky shining like it was the sun or smn_  
**Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _PS:_ [middle finger emoji] _you princess_

 **Audrey @ Auradon’s finest:** _:P_

 **Melody @ Auradon’s finest:** _What happened then?_

 **Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _Mom started to vacuum the house_

 **Evie @ Auradon’s finest:** _A symbol you said?_

 **Mal @ Auradon’s finest:** _Did it look like this?_  
**Mal @ Auradon’s finest:** [picture of a sketch on the back of a receipt, a full circle inside of a larger ring that framed about three-quarters of it leaving the bottom left part uncovered]

 **Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _OMFG YES!! How did you know??_

 **Mal @ Auradon’s finest:** _I had a similar dream a few days ago. I thought it meant nothing_

 **Evie @ Auradon’s finest:** _No freaking way_  
**Evie @ Auradon’s finest:** _I’ve seen it before too guys_

 **Mal @ Auradon’s finest:** _Are you serious_

 **Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _Also in a dream?_

 **Evie @ Auradon’s finest:** _Yes. Before I moved here and I know I didn’t tell anyone about it_

 **Jane @ Auradon’s finest:** _Okay that’s weird and I’m freaking out_

 **Melody @ Auradon’s finest:** _Not gonna lie, me too_

 **Jane @ Auradon’s finest:** _This is crazyyyyy!!!! What’s happening to us???_  
**Jane @ Auradon’s finest:** _I just said it but I’M FREAKING OUT_

 **Audrey @ Auradon’s finest:** _Calm down J_  
**Audrey @ Auradon’s finest:** _So to summarize, everybody here has had some kind of weird experience_  
**Audrey @ Auradon’s finest:** _Things that none of us can explain_  
**Audrey @ Auradon’s finest:** _YET_  
**Audrey @ Auradon’s finest:** _But that are clearly not the product of our imagination_

 **Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _Yeah, what’s your point Sherlock?_

 **Audrey @ Auradon’s finest:** _My point is this isn’t the kind of stuff to discuss over text. Come to my house in the afternoon_  
**Audrey @ Auradon’s finest:** _After 5 though because my dance class ends at 4_

 **Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _K. It’s a deal_

 **Mal @ Auradon’s finest:** _Works for me_

 **Jane @ Auradon’s finest:** _Same!_

 **Evie @ Auradon’s finest:** _Me too :)_

 **Melody @ Auradon’s finest:** _Sorry guys, I can’t make it :/_

 **Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _You have something more important to do Mel?_

 **Melody @ Auradon’s finest:** _I actually have a date with Cedric this afternoon_

 **Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _Now GIRL..!!!_

 **Audrey @ Auradon’s finest:** _Really..._

 **Mal @ Auradon’s finest:** _WHAT_

 **Evie @ Auradon’s finest:** _Ooohhhh_

 **Jane @ Auradon’s finest:** _Omg you actually did it!! Where are you going?_

 **Melody @ Auradon’s finest:** _He invited me to his book store :D He wants to talk with me_

 **Mal @ Auradon’s finest:** _That sounds boring as hell, damn I’m sure even Uma’s had better dates than that_

 **Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _And how many dates has your stupid ass been to?_  
**Uma @ Auradon’s finest:** _But she got a point tho. Talk in the book store doesn’t sound like any fun_

 **Melody @ Auradon’s finest:** _Well I’m really looking forward to it, Cedric’s fascinating!_  
**Melody @ Auradon’s finest:** _You guys are just jealous :P_

 **Mal @ Auradon’s finest:** _Yeah keep telling yourself that_

 **Audrey @ Auradon’s finest:** _Hahaha just go to your date Mel_  
**Audrey @ Auradon’s finest:** _Okay guys I have to go. I’ll see you later_

 **Jane @ Auradon’s finest:** _See youuu!_

 **Evie @ Auradon’s finest:** _I’m going to need the address_

 **Mal @ Auradon’s finest:** _I’ll send it to you_

**Uma renamed the group Bitch gang**

**Mal @ Bitch gang:** _????_

 **Uma @ Bitch gang:** _This slaps more idc_  
**Uma @ Bitch gang:** _See ya at Audrey’s_

 **Melody @ Bitch gang:** _Oh wait look who just popped by to say hi!_  
**Melody @ Bitch gang:** [four-second video of a gray and white sheepdog sitting by the edge of the couch, panting with its tongue out]

 **Evie @ Bitch gang:** _HE/SHE IS SO CUTE WHO IS THAT_

 **Mal @ Bitch gang:** _He. That’s Maaaxxxxx_

 **Uma @ Bitch gang:** _Good ol’ Max!!! What a king_

 **Mal @ Bitch gang:** _Scratch his head and give him a kiss for me!_

 **Jane @ Bitch gang:** _Our babyyyy_

**Jane renamed the group In this house we stan Max**

**Mal @ In this house we stan Max:** _Accurate_

 **Evie @ In this house we stan Max:** _YES_  
**Evie @ In this house we stan Max:** _I don’t know him but I’m a fan_  
**Evie @ In this house we stan Max:** _Look at him!!!!!!!_  
**Evie @ In this house we stan Max:** _He’s adorableeeeeee_  
**Evie @ In this house we stan Max:** _I wanna pet him_  
**Evie @ In this house we stan Max:** _Show me more puhleeeeeeaaase_  
**Evie @ In this house we stan Max:** _I LOVE DOGGIES!!!_  
**Evie @ In this house we stan Max:** _Aw I want a puppy :(_

 **Uma @ In this house we stan Max:** _Mel I think you broke her_

 **Melody @ In this house we stan Max:** _Damn my bad_  
**Melody @ In this house we stan Max:** _I’ll send you some pics in private Evie :)_

 **Evie @ In this house we stan Max:** _Please do!!_

Uma laughed as she shoved her phone into her duffel bag and entered Auradon City’s sports center. It was a modern complex that had only been open for a few months. A true jock’s paradise, with a variety of indoors sports fields and state-of-the-art equipment that still smelled new. But Uma was aiming for the more familiar smell of chlorine.

Following the previous night’s events, a little swim was in order.

Being in water had always helped Uma rest and reflect. And since she didn’t have practice for another two days and the weather was too chilly to go to the beach, it was either that, or taking yet another two-and-a-half-hour long bath that would without a doubt make her mother throw a fit. And honestly she was in no mood for that. Especially after having her precious sleep disturbed by that damned vacuum cleaner.

Aside from the fact that the girl monopolized the only bathroom of the house for hours, Ursula never understood how her daughter could spend so much time soaking in water without having her fingers pruned in the end.

Uma herself didn’t understand it either but she certainly wouldn’t complain.

But she didn’t actually tell her that the reason why she had been taking more baths lately was that she found out she could _do_ stuff with the water. She surely couldn’t tell her mother that she could make drops of it, some big as marbles, rise from the surface with the mere power of her mind. Or that she would let thin spaghetti like trickles wrap themselves around her fingers and arms without them touching her skin.

She didn’t know how and she didn’t know why, but she _could_ do that. Just like she somehow could induce her teachers to ask her questions about the things she knew at times. And she thought it was pretty fucking amazing.

Which was why she actually believed Mal when she said her bed sheets had ‘magically’ burned overnight. She just didn’t tell her that because teasing the green eyed girl was one of her absolute favorite things to do and she would _never_ turn down an opportunity to do so.

But after the Halloween party, she was beginning to sense that there was something bigger going on and the conversation they just had in the group chat only confirmed that. Then there was this dream, that apparently Mal and Evie had had as well and at different times at that. If that wasn’t the definition of strange then she had no clue what the hell it was.

Melody’s adorable old dog might’ve been able to distract her mind for a nice minute, she was still a bit concerned.

Hence the reason why she needed that swim.

After leaving her bag in a locker, Uma easily found an empty lane in one of the two pools, the one that was closest to the large windowpane that overlooked the empty outdoor pool. She secured her swimming hat and goggles on her head and face and jumped feet first into the water, where it was the deepest.

The brown skinned girl let herself sink for a few seconds, enjoying the beatific feeling of being completely submerged, in zero gravity, and the sudden silence that clogged her ears. When her feet came in contact with the slippery tiled floor, she used her legs to launch herself forward. The impulse made her cover about a third of the total length of the pool underwater, before she came back to the surface and began a lazy freestyle.

She swam laps for a whole hour, changing style every so often. More than once though, she had been tempted to stop for a water trick or two but with people around, it was unconceivable. Speaking of, she realized when she reached the end of her lane after her final lap that she had an audience. Of one. Another teenager, who was sitting at the edge of the pool in the next lane.

The boy’s dark hair was slick, eyes a bright shade of blue, and his jaw line sharp enough to give any careless fingers paper cuts. Since swimwear left basically nothing to the imagination, she noticed how toned and muscular his upper body was and immediately assumed that he was a confirmed swimmer as well.

He was looking at her like he had been for a while, with a smirk on his lips.

“Imma give you three seconds to stop staring at me like a creep,” she said coolly as she removed her goggles so he could see the seriousness in her eyes.

But that seemed to amuse him more than anything else. “Sorry lass, couldn’t help it. I was impressed by your butterfly.”

Uma quirked her eyebrow doubtfully as he added, “You’re still as good as I remember.”

This left her utterly dumbfounded. “Uh, excuse me do I _know_ you?”

“I don’t think you do. But I know _you_. You swim for Auradon Prep, don’t you?”  
  
“I do, not that it’s any of your business.”  
  
“Well it kinda is. You were against my school during the championship final last year.”  
  
“You go to the Academy?”

The Auradon Academy was the other main high school of the city, rival of Auradon Prep in many categories which included swimming.

“Yup. Name’s Harry Hook. I’m on the men’s team.”

Ah, a swimmer, she knew it. He looked at her expectantly, with a head tilt, and arching a thick eyebrow.

“Wait are you waiting for an intoduction?” Uma glared with a scoff. “I thought you said you ‘knew me’.” She made air quotes with one hand.

Harry only laughed, seemingly unfazed by the attitude she was giving him. “Touché.”

“So what’s the deal here, Hook? You’re trying to keep an eye on the competition or what?”  
  
“Far from my mind. I’m just here for the enjoyment of a wee Saturday swim, same as you, I suppose?” he asked with a playful glint in his eyes. “I don’t doubt you go way harder than that when you practice.”

He was… flirting? Boy. Ain’t nobody had time for that.

Uma didn’t bother responding and got out of the pool with an annoyed huff. That was enough splashing around for today. She shook her hair out of her swimming hat and wrapped her towel around her body, heading to the locker rooms.

“See you around, Uma.”

Uma turned on her heel so fast her wet hair slapped her in the face. “How in the _hell_ —” So he did know her name, he was just playing. However, she didn’t finish that, rolling her eyes instead. “Ugh, boy bye.”

She heard Harry Hook chuckle behind her back as she left.

_The nerve of him._

* * *

Audrey’s family had money, and it showed.

She was the only child of a bank manager and an art restorer and they all lived, along with her grandmother on her mother’s side, in the penthouse of a high-class apartment building. It was a two-story apartment whose main living area had windows that went from the floor to the twenty feet high ceiling and opened onto a terrace that offered stunning views of the rest of the city.

Evie was the only one impressed by the scenery though, for the others had already been here countless times before. The coffee table was garnished with a fuming teapot and a mountain of mouth-watering cookies and they had been talking for about an hour.

Let it never be said that the Roses didn’t know how to receive guests.

But in this particular case, the conversation they were having wasn’t your typical tea party talk.

“There must be a logical explanation,” Audrey said steadfastly.  
  
“Not everything can be explained by logic,” Jane replied as she lowered her cup of tea on her lap.  
  
“Of course it can. We’re not in one of your sci-fi books. There’s a reason to everything, and you should know I don’t believe in magic and all this supernatural stuff,” Audrey argued, frowning.  
  
“What do you call all that then? Mystical dreams, controlling fire, omens, it all sounds pretty supernatural to me.”  
  
“I don’t know yet Jane, that’s why we’re here!”  
  
“Hey, don’t take it out on her, we’re all asking ourselves the same questions here,” Uma jumped in to defend her friend.

“I have a feeling our dreams and that symbol we saw might be part of the answer,” Evie said.  
  
“Maybe. I cleaned my sketch by the way.” Mal pulled out a sheet of paper from her backpack and showed it to Uma and Evie. “Hope I didn’t forget anything.”

Uma shook her head. “No, it’s very resembling.”

“What do you think it is? Some kind of artifact?” Evie asked.  
  
“That’s what it is indeed.”

All five girls jumped at the voice and turned their heads at the same time only to see Audrey’s grandmother, Leah, standing at the foot of the glass and marble staircase.

“Grammy!” Audrey exclaimed. “What are you talking about? How long have you been here?”  
  
“Long enough to know that _this_ is what you’re searching for.”

In her hand, dangling at the end of a silver chain, there was a small crystal globe, about the size of a table tennis ball, in a thin silver frame. More or less identical to what was on Mal’s drawing. To what they had seen in their dreams. Evie nearly dropped her cup while Mal and Uma’s jaws hit the floor.

“That’s exactly it! Where did you get that?” Evie cried out, shocked, probably louder than she intended.

The elder woman remained perfectly calm, however, the smile she was bearing still plastered on her kind, wrinkled face as she approached the couches and placed herself in front of the five girls.

“Let me tell you a story, girls,” she spoke in a quiet tone. “An old story from ancient times.”

None of them dared to object to that.

“A long time ago, when the Universe was still young, all spirits and creatures lived under the same sky. It was one huge kingdom ruled by Nature, for thousands of years.” She frowned, her face hardening slightly. “But then some of these beings got to know evil, and the unitary world split between those who wanted peace and those who wanted to live on others’ suffering.”

A tiny whimper was heard and they were all pretty sure it came from Jane (it did). But it didn’t stop the woman from continuing her story.

“These two sides are separated by the Veil. Malevolence and injustice were evicted to the frontiers of the Universe, to a dark place called Metaworld. But before it divided forever, the fortress of Kandrakar was created, in the middle of infinity. The fortress is guarded by the most powerful spirits and creatures.”

She raised the jewel and smiled again. “And this is the Heart of Kandrakar.”

Her eyes were bright and alert as she gazed upon the young girls again. “The things that have happened to you are no coincidence, girls. The five of you have been chosen to be the new Guardians of Kandrakar.”

“G-G-Guardians of… What do-does that even m-mean?” Jane said in an audibly fearful little voice.

“Think of the Veil as a net that separates our reality from another one that is next to us,” Leah explained softly. “A net which meshes have loosened dangerously. Portals have opened, the other dimension is coming through, and that is a bad thing. You cannot let that happen. It is now _your_ duty, as Guardians, to find these portals and protect the Veil.”

“I… don’t understand,” Evie said.  
  
“Everything will take its sense in due time, I promise. But for now I’m asking you to accept your mission so you can learn.”  
  
“This sounds deadly,” Mal mumbled, probably thinking no one would hear her but Leah did.  
  
“You have no reason to be afraid. Nature is with you, and its powers belong to you now.”

The crystal in the woman’s hand began to glow before the girls’ stunned eyes, with a white light that seemed to come from its core.

“Uma, you are Water.”

Said girl merely opened her eyes wider.

“You, Jane, are the Air.”

She sank into her seat.

“For Mal, Fire.”

The blonde girl gulped as she nervously fidgeted with the hem of her hoodie.

And finally, Leah put her hand on top of her granddaughter’s head, whose jaw was noticeably clenched. “And you, my dear Audrey, you get the powers of Earth.”

Which left…

“B-but that’s four…” Evie said softly, eyebrows furrowed in deep confusion. “I don’t—”  
  
“Give me your hand, Evie.”

The brunette hesitantly complied, allowing Leah to gently turn her palm upwards and she held the jewel above it. Then she let go of the chain, but instead of falling into Evie’s hand, the crystal and its chain remained suspended in mid-air above it. And before the brunette could process what was going on, its white glow gradually became brighter, until the blinding light forced them all to squint their eyes. Except Evie, whose eyes literally closed. There was a sudden warmth within her that wasn’t like anything she had ever felt before, that spread from the palm of her hand and reached every single part of her body from the inside. It was a wonderful feeling, to say the least, so much that she was almost sad when it ended.

“Wow…” she whispered with a content sigh.

When she reopened her eyes, the crystal was glowing more weakly but still floating above her hand. The other girls were looking at her in total awe and Audrey’s grandmother had a large, satisfied grin on her face.

“The Heart of Kandrakar contains the elemental forces of Nature and you, Evie, are the new Keeper. Which means that your powers bind the others. Unite them, magnify them.”  
  
“Like a fifth element,” Uma mentioned in a low voice.  
  
“Exactly.”

Evie closed her fist, expecting to feel the Heart underneath her fingers but oddly, her hand had gone empty. “Wait, it’s gone! Where did it go?”

Leah giggled gently at the young brunette. “When the Heart reunites with its chosen Keeper, they become one. It’s a part of you now. Like your own heart, it lies inside you. But you can summon it any time you wish.”

Evie’s eyes grew large as saucers and she frenetically ran her hands over her chest. “What do you mean _inside_ me? I didn’t feel anything go in, I—” She looked back up wanting more explanation from the elder woman, but she was gone, too. “Now where the hell did she go?”

And the others apparently didn’t see her leave either, for they all began to look around the large living room but indeed, Leah was nowhere in sight.

“I know she did _not_ just disappear on us,” Uma blurted.  
  
“Let’s go outside.”

Apparently by ‘outside’ Audrey literally meant outside the building, as she motioned for the other girls to move to the front door. Her behavior was suddenly very uptight, like she wanted to go as far away from her living room – or her grandmother – as possible. Once in front of the main entrance, Audrey exhaled loudly.

“Oh Lord. I love Grammy but I think she’s gone senile. That was completely insane!”  
  
“But what she said could explain a lot of things,” Mal pointed out.  
  
“It explains nothing!” Audrey snapped. “She just told us a story with a glowing pendant to amaze us!”  
  
“Yeah, a pendant that looked exactly like the one Mal, Uma and I saw in our dreams, that floated in the air and then _vanished,_ remember?” Evie said. “Apparently it’s inside me right now.”

Audrey glared at her intensely and crossed her arms. “And? We all believed those tricks were magic when we were little.”

“I think you might be a little afraid, Audrey,” Uma said.  
  
“I’m not! I just don’t believe in every fairytale I hear!” The lighter brunette threw her hands in the air exasperatedly. “Goodnight.”

The other girls watched as she made her way back inside with an angry step.

“Is she seriously mad at us?” Evie winced at the fact that they had clearly just gotten kicked out.

Uma shrugged. “Don’t mind her. Audrey can be a little hardheaded sometimes. She’ll come around.”

“To be completely honest guys, I still don’t really understand what’s going on,” Jane said. “We are… Guardians?”  
  
“Whatever that means. I wish she’d told us more,” Evie sighed.  
  
“It means we’re basically super heroes, how cool is that?” Uma beamed. “It’s less cool that we actually have to fight against evil forces from another dimension but hey, if it’s part of the deal.”  
  
“God, do you ever take anything seriously?” Mal rolled her eyes at the other girl.  
  
“I _am_ taking this seriously. I just don’t see the point of dramatizing the situation and making it crazier than it already is.”

Mal was ready to argue but was interrupted by their four phones buzzing at once.

 **Melody @ In this house we stan Max:** _Are you guys still at Audrey’s?_

 **Uma @ In this house we stan Max:** _We just left. Why?_

 **Jane @ In this house we stan Max:** _Did your date end already?_

 **Melody @ In this house we stan Max:** _Only the first one ^.^” Cedric said he wants to meet me again later_  
**Melody @ In this house we stan Max:** _At the school’s gym_

 **Mal @ In this house we stan Max:** _Damn. Your bf picks the most romantic places_

 **Melody @ In this house we stan Max:** _I know it’s kinda weird but he said it was important and I really wanna go_  
**Melody @ In this house we stan Max:** _Can you guys come with me?_  
**Melody @ In this house we stan Max:** _I won’t feel as nervous if I’m not alone_  
**Melody @ In this house we stan Max:** _Pretty please?_

Uma stared up at her three friends with an eyebrow raised. “What do you think?”

“Why not?” Evie said. “If it helps.”

 **Uma @ In this house we stan Max:** _I’m down_

 **Jane @ In this house we stan Max:** _Yea_ _h I can come too_

 **Evie @ In this house we stan Max:** _Same_

“Are you guys for real?” Mal glared at her friends like they had lost their minds. “You’re seriously considering sneaking in the school on a Saturday night?”  
  
“What’s wrong Malie? I thought you liked breaking the rules.” Uma flashed a wicked smirk at the girl.  
  
“I-I do but…” Mal rolled her eyes. “Ugh never mind, I promised my mom I’d help her with something tonight anyway.”  
  
“Bummer.” Uma shrugged.

 **Mal @ In this house we stan Max:** _not me. Sorry Mel_

 **Melody @ In this house we stan Max:** _it’s okay. I think 3 is enough :)_  
**Melody @ In this house we stan Max:** _7pm at school then_  
**Melody @ In this house we stan Max:** _thank you so much girls, see you!_

“7pm is in like fifteen minutes. Should we go now?” Evie asked.  
  
“Yeah.” Uma nodded.

Mal turned the other way. “Well good luck with that. I’ll see you guys later.”

* * *

Neither Uma, Jane or Evie would deny that it felt weird being at school in the evening, yet none of them was getting that particular feeling, you know, _that_ feeling. Like they shouldn’t be in there.

When, in all honesty, they should. Hadn’t they watched enough movies to know that sneaking into closed buildings after sunset was never a good idea? The sad thing was that, yes, they had. But still, they were here, because they believed it was for a good cause. They didn’t even question the fact that the front gate was open.

In a unanimous agreement to avoid the main building, the three girls accessed the gym through the deserted yards. They all flinched at the sight of the burnt grass as a strong reminiscent of the previous night’s disaster.

“Where did Melody say she would be again?” Jane said in a whisper when they arrived in front of the gym’s doors, like she was scared of being overheard.  
  
“She didn’t,” Uma realized with a frown.

Okay so maybe now they were starting to get a little suspicious. But apparently not enough to turn back and leave. Evie pushed the doors open. The gym was plunged into darkness, but they could tell that the place had been tidied since the party. It was back to being a regular gymnasium.

A regular _empty_ gymnasium.

“Melody?” Evie called as they walked further into the room.  
  
“If she was here we would’ve seen her by now, don’t you think?” Uma said.  
  
“Uma’s right. We should leave,” Jane quickly agreed.  
  
“No wait, maybe if I turn the lights on—”

But her words were drowned as another voice echoed throughout the room. It was loud, raucous and freezing cold, and it seemed to issue from the walls themselves. One that sent shivers down their spines.

“ _Welcome, Guardians._ ”

The doors slammed shut causing the three girls to jump and clutch each other with a unified scream. They couldn’t see anything or anyone, but the voice spoke again. “ _We’ve been waiting for you._ ”

“Th-th-they c-called us G-Guar…” Jane’s voice was shaking too much to let her finish her sentence.

Evie began to feel dizzy again, just like the day before at the party. She swallowed a big lump in her throat and said as loud and assured as she could. “W-who are you?”

“What do you want? Where is Melody?” Uma shouted.  
  
“ _What we want?_ ” A dry, devilish cackle followed. “ _We want to take over your world. The Veil is weak. Once we get rid of you, the Universe will be ours!_ ”  
  
“The Veil…” Jane repeat weakly.  
  
“What is he—”  
  
“ _Get them, Vathek!_ ”

Two things happened at the same time. A large, black hole appeared on the wall behind them and it was circled by blue and threatening looking flames; and Evie was violently shoved to the side by something.

_AAAHHHH!!!_

“What the hell! NO! Let go of me!”  
  
“Help! Evie! Evieee!”

The brunette stood up from the ground groaning in pain, fighting the dizziness, but now that there was more light, she could actually see.

The scene in front of her was downright horrendous.

‘Vathek’ happened to be no less than a monster. A tall creature that was about twice as large as all three of them put together, with indigo blue skin that looked hard as stone, white spikes coming out from both sides of his head like two rows of small horns, small yellow eyes, and sharp looking pointed teeth that could probably tear them apart as easily as if they were made of marshmallow. And he was currently holding both Jane and Uma in his thick arms with a tenacious grip, while the two shrieked and struggled, in vain.

Evie’s heart pounded so hard in her chest it could break a rib. Her two friends were damn near being crushed to death before her eyes and she was petrified by fear. She felt helpless.

Yet she couldn’t just stand there. She had to do something.

But what?

“You stand no chance, Guardians,” Vathek spoke and his voice was as deep, growly and scary as the other one. “Surrender and I’ll make your deaths less painful.”

Evie’s clenched right fist began to grow warm, hot even, borderline burning. When she opened it, the Heart of Kandrakar was there. Glowing pink instead of white, it twitched in her hand like it was trying to tell her something.

And Evie thought she got the message, but she wasn’t sure at all.

“Hope it does something…” the brunette whispered to herself before raising her shaking arm in the air and focusing as hard as she could.

_I summon the powers of Water and Air!_

And it did something.

Two small bright orbs of light spouted out of the Heart and flew towards Uma and Jane. The blue monster, suddenly blinded, released the two girls to shield his eyes as he grunted in pain and stumbled backwards. Both Uma and Jane were then engulfed in turquoise and silver light respectively.

But Evie didn’t get to see what happened to them next because she found herself surrounded by equally bright pink light, and her body was lifted from the ground. It was so bright she couldn’t even see her own hands, but she could feel things shifting around her. Fierce tingles on her skin, a spiking sensation on her upper back, and that same warmth from earlier coursing through every inch of her.

When her feet touched the ground again, she felt different.

Like renewed, and strangely powerful. She also _looked_ different.

Instead of her day clothes, she was now wearing a navy blue ensemble made of a top with long poet sleeves that exposed her midriff and a mini-skirt, see-through black stockings, and black high-heeled shin-high boots. The collar of her shirt formed the shape of a heart between her collarbones.

Looking over, she saw that the girls had gone through the same phenomenon and were just about as amazed as she was.

Uma had on a skintight, sleeveless teal bodysuit that resembled a one-piece boyshorts swimsuit and a turquoise fringed skirt over it, with ankle-high brown boots at her feet. But the most noticeable thing was that her hair had gone from curly dark brown to a thick set of teal and aqua blue braids that reached the bottom of her ribs.

Evie instantly inspected her own hair. It had turned the same color as her clothes and she just now felt the V-braid at the front. “Holy crap.”

As for Jane, her new outfit was some kind of short light blue halter top and a long, wispy silver skirt that was split at both sides, revealing most of her legs. Matching silver bands hugged her rib area, blue bands around her upper arms and her shoes were black Mary Janes. Her hair hadn’t changed color, but it was now significantly longer as well and held back by a light blue head band.

But what _really_ blew them away were the—

“Guys, we have _wings_!” Jane exclaimed.

Indeed, they all had the same thin, translucent fairy-like wings poking from their shoulder blade areas.

“We look so—”

Uma never finished that sentence, for the creepy voice rose again.

“ _Vathek! Destroy them!_ ”

The girls saw with horror that the blue monster had come back to his senses and was charging back towards them. His eyes glowed before shooting several bolts of lightning, that Evie dodged with a backflip she didn’t even know she could do, while Jane grabbed Uma’s arms and jumped to the side, pulling the girl along with her.

Uma’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets upon the realization that they _weren’t_ coming down, instead rising higher and higher from the ground, and then saw the other girl’s wings flapping vigorously. “Wait, we can actually _use_ these things?”

“Don’t ask me! I know I can, I’m the Air, remember?”

But unfortunately that didn’t mean that she knew what to do with that. Just like a baby learning how to walk, Jane ‘air stumbled’ five seconds in and jerked uncontrollably from one side to another, letting go of Uma who painfully landed back on the ground and eventually she herself collided with a pile of gym mats.

“You pathetic fly. Your powers are no use if you don’t know how to use them,” Vathek grunted as he approached her.  
  
“Get away from my best friend you hideous, oversized Grouchy Smurf!” Uma snarled as she rose back to her feet.

Her eyes spotted the fire hydrant valve that was mounted on a wall near her and, getting an idea, she held her hands out towards it. A deep rumble was heard before a powerful water stream gushed out, aimed straight at the monster, that hit him hard in the midsection and efficiently catapulted him several feet across the room.

Jane rushed to her, half running, half flying.

“Okay, that was arrogant,” she said breathlessly.

Uma flipped her hair with a smirk, “Aye, you know me, I always take care of things with style.”

Evie, too, was back at their side. “Um, girls, what about that thing in the wall?”

The flaming hole was still there looking as though it was ready to swallow everything within a range of a hundred feet even though nothing was being pulled into it. It seemed bottomless.

“ _Don’t let them close the portal, Vathek!_ ”

“A portal…” Jane repeated. “Didn’t Leah say—”  
  
“Not so fast, Guardians!”

The blue monster was launching himself at them, his eyes glowing once again.

“Back off, you brute!” Evie yelled, joining her hands in front of her and a blast of pink energy burst forth from them, knocking the monster out before he could strike.

She didn’t know it would do that but she was quite satisfied with the result.

And Uma agreed. “Impressive.”

“Thanks,” Evie said. “Now what do we do with the portal?”  
  
“I have a feeling we should try to close it since they didn’t want us to,” Uma suggested.  
  
“How?” Jane questioned.  
  
“I don’t know! Let’s just join forces and try something.”

The Heart of Kandrakar had reappeared in Evie’s hands – who had failed to notice it had even disappeared – and she extended them forward, rapidly imitated by Uma and Jane. Surely, they had no clue what they were doing but they were all under the same weird impression that it was what they should be doing.

Nothing happened at first. So frowns deepened, fingers tensed up and minds focused harder until the expected result: the hole began to shrink smaller and smaller, until it closed completely in a small puff of smoke.

“ _No!_ ” the voice bellowed. “ _This isn’t over. You may have won this fight, but the war has begun and we will show no mercy. We’re coming back for you, witches. Retreat, Vathek._ ”

There was a cracking sound, and next they were the only ones in the gym, that was dark again.

“I don’t know what you guys think but I suggest we get out of here,” Evie said, a little out of breath.  
  
“I agree but we can’t let anybody see us in these clothes,” Uma rightfully observed.

Their outfits changed back into their regular ones soon as she finished saying that. “Alright, that was quick.”

“Let’s go,” Evie declared.

Outside, night had fallen. The streets were quiet but the girls waited until they were at a safe distance from the school to talk again.

“Oh my God. Can you believe what just happened?” Jane voiced what they were all thinking.  
  
“Well at least now we know that what Audrey’s grandma told us is real,” Evie answered. “ _There_ _is_ another dimension and evil creatures trying to invade the world.”  
  
“Personally, I never doubted her,” Uma stated. “But actually _facing_ it was…”  
  
“Horrific. Absolutely terrifying.” Jane finished for her.  
  
“We did some pretty cool shit in there though.” Uma smirked as she nudged the girl with her elbow in an attempt to cheer her (and herself) up.  
  
“Yeah, we did.” Jane gave her a small smile.

Bet, they were scared to death but couldn’t help being impressed with the way they handled the situation.

“Guys,” Evie interrupted the praise. “We all agree that Melody was never in there, right?”  
  
“What if she was taken by this monster before we got there? What if she was hurt and we couldn’t help her?” Jane asked worriedly.

Evie took a long, deep breath, not wanting to confirm yet unable to deny this tragic possibility. “I really hope not. Can one of you call her?”

“I will,” Uma said.

She pulled her phone out of the pocket of her jacket, dialed Melody’s number and put it on speaker. They all listened as it rang several times before going to voicemail. Then they tried again, also to be sent to voicemail.

“Shit,” Evie groaned. “Alright. Let’s not jump to dramatic conclusions for now. Maybe she’s just sleeping. We’ll talk to her and the others tomorrow.”  
  
“I second that. I just wanna go home, take a long, hot shower, and get straight to my bed,” Uma announced.

They could all agree on that, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do we like this people? Lol you know I appreciate your feedback.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Until next time :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello hello!
> 
> Thank you guys so much for liking this so far! Here's chapter 3 :)

The next day, they didn’t manage to get ahold of Melody.

They tried calling her phone, her house, and nothing. No one picked up all Sunday. Audrey suggested that maybe they were out of town for the weekend, hiking in the middle of nature or to some other place with no service. It was weird, but it was possible. They let it slide. They’d talk to her at school.

But Melody hadn’t returned to class on Monday. They lied to the teachers and said she was sick, tried calling her phone and her house again, even her parents’ phones. Still nothing. Maybe their car broke down and they were stuck wherever they were, with dead phones or something. Maybe they had nothing to worry about. But they were nonetheless.

On Wednesday, Audrey went to find Cedric, the guy from the book store whom Melody had gone on a date with. But according to him, this date never even occurred and he claimed he hadn’t talked to her since the Halloween party. The girls were extremely confused now on top of being worried. Why would have Melody lied to them about meeting him? Where did she actually go? Where was she now?

But the weirdest thing was, why had Melody wanted them to be in the school’s gym on Saturday night, when they were attacked by a monster. To most of the girls – or at least, to Evie, Jane and Uma – it was starting to feel less and less like a coincidence and more like it had been a trap.

They _had_ to talk to her. They needed answers.

So on Friday, while dark clouds gathered in the sky and loomed over the city, the air thick with the smell of an upcoming thunderstorm, the five of them went to Melody’s house after Uma’s swim practice. The mailbox was full, the shutters were down, and the grass in the front yard looked exactly like it had been left unattended for too long. However, Melody always said that her father liked to have his lawn looking like a smooth, beautiful green carpet.

It didn’t sit right with them at all.

“It’s pointless,” Audrey groaned after she rang the bell for the fourth time. “They’re not here.”  
  
“They even took Max. He always welcomes us whenever he sees us outside,” Jane recounted sadly.  
  
“That doesn’t make any sense. She can’t just disappear like that,” Uma pointed out.  
  
“Yeah, not without telling us beforehand,” Mal said. “Something’s up.”

Audrey came down the front porch and put her hands on her hips. “We should go to the police. They’ll know what to do.”

“No,” Evie adamantly disagreed.

The expression on Audrey’s face turned to one of utter outrage as she turned to her. Did the _new girl_ just _dare_ openly oppose her? Like _who_ did she think she was? “Excuse me?”

But Evie stood her ground and kept her back straight. “We’re not telling the authorities.”

“Who died and made you the boss of us?” Audrey retorted as she looked the other brunette up and down in disdain. “In case you haven’t noticed, my best friend’s been missing for almost a week!”  
  
“I’m not the boss of anything, and I did notice that.” Evie tried to smooth things down. She didn’t want to start a fight, especially not with Audrey. “But if her disappearance has anything to do with what happened at the gym last week, then we can’t tell anyone.”

She saw the other girl’s nostrils flare as she took in a sharp breath and her gaze hardened even more. It hadn’t been Mal’s case, but Audrey had been and still was very skeptical about the story of last Saturday’s events despite all the details the other three girls had given.

“Besides, we will see her again,” Evie said determinedly.  
  
“How can you be so sure of that?” Mal cut in.  
  
“I’m not.” The brunette raised her palm, revealing the Heart of Kandrakar in its glowing glory. A big contrast with the stormy weather. “But the Heart is. The answer is around us, but we can’t see it because we don’t understand everything yet.”

An irritated Audrey rolled her eyes and ran a hand in her hair in frustration. “Hell, give me a break with that thing already. It’s not a damned junk crystal ball that’ll tell us where Melody is.”

“It’s real, Audrey. And it’s _magical._ Your grandmother told us the truth,” Jane intervened carefully. “Evie, Uma and I really fought against a creature from Metaworld and closed a portal.”  
  
“Leave Grammy out of this. Do you realize how insane that sounds?” Audrey rebuffed. “You really expect me to believe all that?”  
  
“Yes! Why would we make it up?”  
  
“It’s time to face it, princess, we have powers!” Uma snapped in an umpteenth attempt to make the girl see reason, then pointed towards the grass. “I mean, look for yourself, damn it!”

A half dozen of tangled vines and weeds were coming out of the ground right underneath Audrey’s feet, wrapping themselves around her ankles and calves like little snakes. “ _Aaahh!_ ” She jumped away and wiggled her legs, watching the vines sink back where they came from. “I-I didn’t do that, did I?”

“Yes, Audrey, you did. Your element is Earth,” Evie said firmly. “And Mal’s is Fire.”  
  
“Oh dear. Better be careful when this one gets mad,” Uma scoffed jestingly.  
  
“You wanna give it a try? Since you always seem to know what to say to piss me off,” Mal glared at the brown skinned girl with a defying smirk.  
  
“Please. I control water. You really think I won’t put you out?”

Evie was getting better at ignoring the two girls’ petty bickering, thankfully, and kept her attention on Audrey to say in a softer tone, “This is really happening to us.”

“We need to stick together if we want to figure this out,” Jane added gently. “And find Melody.”

She tried to reach out for Audrey’s hand but the girl stepped away, huddling under the wind that was starting to kick up and shaking her head. “I can’t. This… this is too much. Way too much madness for me. I’m going home.”

“Audrey, wait!” Evie called after her.

The wind carried her desperate cry for the lighter brunette along with it, but it didn’t stop the girl from disappearing around the corner of the street without a look behind her.

“Let her go. She needs to cool down,” Uma told Evie with a sigh.

Just then, a rolling sound of thunder came from the blackened sky.

“We can’t stay out there though, it’s going to rain,” Jane said as she looked towards it.  
  
“My place is the closest, you guys wanna come over for a minute?” Evie offered, which was unanimously accepted.

The brunette and her mother had managed to put most of their things in the right places, and even though there were still some boxes lying open here and there, their apartment was, overall, well furnished and organized. They had about an hour and a half until the older woman came back from her work, which seemed like a sufficient enough timespan to address their issue, all gathered around the kitchen island while Evie put water in a kettle to boil.

“This feels wrong,” Jane said.  
  
“What do you mean?” Mal looked at her and frowned.  
  
“I mean look at us. We just found out that we can do magic. We ended up in the craziest situation ever, fighting against a real monster and then our friend mysteriously disappears.” Jane spoke hardly taking any breaks in between words, which got her slightly out of breath pretty quickly. “We should be half-dead from the shock by now, and yet here we are about to sip tea.”

Yet Jane still grabbed a bag of chamomile tea from the box Evie had put in front of them.

“You think we’re taking this too lightly?” Evie asked, fumbling with the Japanese sencha tea bag in her hands.  
  
“Kind of.”  
  
“I get what you’re saying but it’s hard to do when there are so many unanswered questions.” Uma went for a ginger, lemon and lemongrass one, shrugging her shoulders. “We still don’t know exactly what we’re up against.”  
  
“We should go back to see Audrey’s grandma. I feel like there’s a lot that she didn’t tell us,” Mal remarked, and helped herself with a red berries herbal tea.  
  
“Obviously. But it’s Audrey whom I’m concerned about,” Evie said. “She won’t hear any of it.”  
  
“I told you she’s a hot-head, but right now this is harder for her than it is for us. Melody and her go way back, they’ve known each other since the sixth grade,” Uma informed the brunette.  
  
“I understand.” Evie nodded. “But we really need to get her on board with this. We can’t do this… whatever this is, without her.”  
  
“Right. There’s five of us for a reason,” Jane stated.  
  
“Until then, we better be careful and keep our eyes open at all times,” Evie took a very serious tone.

If anything, the thunder was louder than before. One could hardly guess that the sun hadn’t set yet given how dark it was outside. Accompanying yet another deep rumble, a buzzing sound was heard and all the lights, inside this time, went out at once.

“Ugh, fucking great. Power outage,” Uma groaned. “So much for keeping our eyes open.”  
  
“Don’t move,” Evie said. “We have candles somewhere.”

She turned her phone’s flashlight on and was about to leave the room to search for them but was stopped by Mal, who exclaimed, “Don’t bother, I got it!”

The others watched as grapefruit sized fireballs appeared in both of Mal’s hands while the girl smiled proudly. She sent them flying around the room before creating two others, then two more, and soon they could see as clearly as if it was daytime.

“Amazing!” Jane whispered, genuinely impressed, as were all of them.

Uma was studying one of the fireballs closely, carefully bringing a hand closer until the small flames licked at her fingertips and she gasped in amazement. “It’s funny, they don’t burn!”

“Yeah, I’ve been practicing a little.” Mal shrugged, albeit she was loving the praise.  
  
“That’s awesome! Thank you,” Evie said with a bright smile making Mal blush a little. “Okay. My turn to show you something. Are you guys hungry?”

Uma perked up in her seat. “As a matter of fact, yes. Can you conjure a banquet?”

“Hmm I don’t know.” Evie stared up at… nothing, actually, she just stared upwards and said, “Do you think we could make that happen, James?”

“Uh, who the hell is James? There’s someone else here?” Uma asked and Jane made a ‘don’t ask me’ face.  
  
“Perhaps there’s not enough in here for a full banquet, Miss Evie.”

All the girls except Evie looked around all confused for the source of the voice, that spoke in a heavy British accent, and the taller brunette laughed. “But?”

“But, there’s still some of that lovely apple pie Miss Regina made yesterday if you and your guests fancy something sweet.”

It was Jane who noticed that the little screen on the fridge was on and bright despite the fact that there was a blackout, and that the small light in the ice dispenser flashed in synch with each word that was spoken. Her mouth fell wide open. “Wait a minute. Did that come from…”

“The fridge just… talked?” Uma hissed in total bewilderment.

The fridge seemed to be working perfectly when Evie retrieved the pie from it.

“Oh and by the way, I shall tell you that the cheese next to the pickles on the second shelf will expire in four days,” ‘James’ said again as she closed the door.  
  
“Okay, no worries, we’ll use it. Thanks a lot James.”  
  
“It is always a pleasure, Miss Evie.”

Uma frantically shook Mal’s arm. “Can you believe that? The fridge _talks_!”

“I heard, you idiot, I’m not deaf!”

Evie chuckled. “I noticed two days ago that I can communicate with the electronic devices in the house. And I can make them work without electricity as well,” she explained happily. “I gave them all names already. You just met James, my handsome British gentleman.”  
  
“If this isn’t the weirdest yet coolest shit I’ve ever heard,” Uma mumbled as she took the piece of pie Evie was handing her. “Thanks.”

Mal cleared her throat when Evie put a plate in front of her. “Um, Evie, can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure, what do you need?” the brunette said kindly.  
  
“There’s this biology project that I need to turn in tomorrow.” Mal scratched the back of her head in slight embarrassment. “I was planning on printing it at home but since we don’t know how long the blackout’s gonna last, well, would you mind if I did it here? Y’know, since you talk to machines and stuff.”

But Evie only smiled widely at her. “I don’t mind at all. Do you have it on a flash drive?”

“No but I emailed it to myself earlier today.”  
  
“Alright, come with me.”

Mal and one of the fireballs followed Evie into the living room as she retrieved her laptop from the coffee table, then into a small office. The blonde’s insides began to flutter and her cheeks heated up. For anyone else it would seem like a light blush, but since Mal literally _was_ fire, to her it felt like her face had caught up in flames. Her crush on the taller girl had only grown bigger since the first time they met a little over a week ago. So much that the simple fact of them going to a separate room to print her school work (so, really not a big deal _per se_ ) was making her as nervous as if she had been asked to give a speech in public.

“Rise and shine Ronald, I’ve got some work for you,” Evie crooned when they entered.  
  
“Work, work, work. Why is it that every time someone comes to see me they only have that word in their mouth,” a grumpy voice arose and Mal saw the printer’s small colorful lights flicker.  
  
“Why are you complaining? At least sometimes they let you off. I, on the other hand, am always working,” another voice said and this time it came from the desktop computer next to it.

Evie scoffed and opened her laptop, and despite it still being off the little blue light by the keyboard was already flashing. “Stop being such an ass, George. If it wasn’t for me you’d have twice as much work with Evie’s assignments. Not to mention all the stupidity she watches on the internet.” It said as she turned it on. “See, she’s not even using you right now.”

“Hey, Netflix and DIY home design tricks are not stupidity,” Evie replied defensively.  
  
“It’s not educational either.”  
  
“School is enough education as it is, Fred. Can’t I get a break when I’m home? Plus, like you mentioned, I do my homework.”

Mal couldn’t hold back a light fit of laughter, she couldn’t believe that the girl was arguing with computers. But suddenly she picked on something. “Hold up. Ronald, Fred, George, and your fridge is James…” she smirked knowingly, her forefinger pointed at Evie. “Ma’am you’re a Potterhead.”

“I plead guilty,” Evie admitted with a chuckle. “I couldn’t help it. My phone’s Luna.”

Mal felt more fluttering in the pit of her stomach. And here she thought the brunette couldn’t be any more perfect.

“What’s your House?”  
  
“Ravenclaw, all the way. Yours?”

Mal held her chin high, “I don’t care how overrated they are, I’m a proud Gryffindor.”

“Such a Gryffindor thing to say,” Evie winked before motioning for Mal to sit at the desk. “Here. Log into your mailbox.”

Mal obliged. “So what does your mom do?” she asked to keep the conversation afloat.

And also because she had realized how she knew pretty much nothing about Evie. With good reason though, the recent events hadn’t exactly been conductive for casual talking. So far, she only knew that she came from a small town called Fadden Hills and that she liked Harry Potter. And while that _was_ an important piece of information, she was eager to find out more.

“She works for Simultech. You know that industrial software-developing company downtown?”  
  
“Never heard of it but it sounds interesting. Do you only live with her?”

Mal instantly gave herself a mental slap for bringing that up not knowing if it was a sensitive topic or not. _Damn it you can be so dumb sometimes_.

But fortunately for her Evie was rather casual about it when she answered, “Yeah. She divorced my dad when I was about five. She’s got full custody of me so I haven’t seen much of him since then. What about yours?”

Mal sighed, relieved. “My mother’s a judge and my father, um, well he’s… he’s a mortician.”

“Why do you sound ashamed?” Evie giggled softly at her hesitation.  
  
“It’s a bit weird to tell people that my father manipulates dead bodies for a living.” Mal rolled her eyes. “There it is.” She turned the laptop towards Evie once she found the right email.

Evie bent forward, leaning on her arm to do what needed to be done to print Mal’s document. A cascade of silk-looking jet black tresses slipped from behind her shoulder and an enticing smell of blueberry shampoo filled her nose. When Evie tucked them back behind her ear to smirk at her, she thought she might actually turn into a puddle of jelly.

“Still less weird than us having magical powers, if you ask me.”  
  
“Good point.”  
  
“Are they still together?”

Mal shook her head. “They were never married and separated when I was a baby. I’ve always lived with my mom but I still see my dad regularly.”

Evie was about to say something when Ronald the printer manifested himself, “Evie, I can’t print anything if I’m running out of black ink!”

“Oops, sorry. Hold on, there must be some up there.”

The shelf she had to reach was high enough for her to actually need to get on her tiptoes and use the desk for support, and it also caused her shirt to rise up a little, exposing fair skin that Mal’s gaze was instantly drawn to despite herself and since she was standing pretty close… Well, let’s say it was suddenly hot in here. But then, the edge of a dark purple stain let itself seen on the pretty porcelain complexion and green eyes went wide.

“Evie, you’re injured,” she hissed in panic. “Sorry I didn’t mean to look but… that bruise doesn’t look small!”

“Oh, yeah, that.” The girl lifted her shirt a little higher up and Mal gasped seeing how it was _not_ small indeed. The nasty ecchymosis spread on her left side, on the area below her ribcage. “That beast in the gym pushed me harder than I thought.”

The nonchalant explanation didn’t ease Mal’s mind at all. On the contrary, it fueled her concern even more. “How are you so calm about it? This is… Oh my God. Does it hurt much? Did your mom see it?”

“Well I can’t sleep on this side and I have to be careful with my choice of clothing, but other than that it’s alright. It’s actually healing pretty fast.” Evie shrugged and pulled her shirt down. “And no, Mommy didn’t see it.”

Mal pouted, leaning back in the chair. She really hated that the other girl was hurt. “I wish I’d come. Maybe I could’ve helped.”

_I could’ve tried to protect you._

“Hey, it’s okay. You couldn’t have known.” Evie put a hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze, the smile on her face genuine and reassuring, before turning to change the ink cartridge. Which was good, because Mal was blushing again. “Besides, we made it out in one piece, didn’t we? We’ll be better next time. Together, as a team.”  
  
“I hate to even think of a next time,” Mal grunted.  
  
“It would be delusional of us to think otherwise. But don’t worry, we’ll be more prepared.”

The clicking and screeching sounds of the printer filled the little room now that Evie finally managed to make Ronald work properly, but Mal couldn’t take her eyes off her. Even in the low light provided by her fireball, she was glowing like a star, with her sweet as cotton candy smile and her contagious determination.

 _Gosh, you’re beautiful_.

“Why, thank you,” Evie glanced at her sideways, with a surprised frown and a small smile tugging at her lips.

Talk about _major_ awkwardness. Mal’s heart literally stopped beating and when it started again it was at hammering speed. “W-w-wait yo-you heard that?”

“Well, yeah, didn’t you say it out loud?”  
  
“N-not at all, I—”

Mal interrupted herself as she understood what had most likely happened, and furrowed her brows to speak again… in her head. “ _You can really hear what I’m thinking?_ ”

Evie giggled out loud, but her next words didn’t come from her mouth either. “ _I do now! Wow, your eyes are flashing green, I think you’re making it happen._ ”

“ _My eyes? Holy shit,_ ” Mal mentally gasped.  
  
“ _Looks like we just found you a new power._ ”  
  
“ _So I’m… I’m a telepath now?_ ”  
  
“ _That’s pretty cool! Imagine what—_ ”

Evie’s words were cut mid-sentence, just like they were on the phone and the line had suddenly gone dead.

“Okay, maybe I need more practice to make the connection last longer,” Mal said, vocally again.  
  
“Yeah, probably.” An insistent beeping from the printer indicated that his job was done, and Evie gave the sheets of paper to the blonde. “There’s your project.”  
  
“Thanks a lot, you’re a lifesaver.” She stood up from her seat, finding herself in a hurry to save herself from further embarrassment. “And thanks Ron!”  
  
“You’re welcome young lady,” the printer said. “Wait did she just call me Ron?”

Mal was almost out the door when Evie’s soft voice called for her. “Oh, and Mal?”

“Yeah?”  
  
“I think you’re beautiful, too.”

* * *

A little while later, back in the kitchen, in front of empty plates and equally emptying cups of tea, the conversation was back to its initial topic. The power still hadn’t come back and now in addition to the thunder it was raining cats and dogs outside.

“I think we should take some time to train,” Evie conveyed, leaning against the sink.  
  
“Fair enough. I hate to say it but the giant Smurf was right, our powers are useless if we can’t use them properly,” Uma recognized as she gulped down the last of her drink.  
  
“I agree. In the gym we barely made it out of luck, but I doubt it’ll be enough if we have to fight again,” Jane said.  
  
“Plus it’d be horrible if we made a mistake or hurt people just because we’re inexperienced,” Mal pointed out wisely. “Fire is tricky. I don’t wanna burn anyone to ashes by accident.”

Uma sided with that. “Yeah I wouldn’t wanna flood somebody’s basement either. And J here causes tornados when she sneezes too hard.”

“Hey, that was one time, and it only messed up my room,” said girl protested.

“Oh shit,” Evie suddenly cried out.  
  
“It wasn’t as bad as she makes it sound, I promise,” Jane chuckled awkwardly.  
  
“No, it’s not that.” Evie was looking out the window and squinting her eyes to see through the rain.  
  
“What then? Is the blue gorilla back?” Uma stood up, immediately getting on the defensive.  
  
“Worse. My mother’s coming home!” Evie winced as she looked back towards her friends. “Quick, Mal, put the fire out. I’ll get the candles.”

This would’ve been a lot faster to achieve had she known where said candles were in the first place. She found them, eventually, and was back in the kitchen just in time for Mal to light them up before they heard the keys in the lock of the front door.

“Evie, are you home?”  
  
“Yes, Mommy. I’m in the kitchen.”

The woman appeared at the doorstep, not hiding her surprise upon finding the other three girls alongside her daughter, looking as normal as they could be. “Oh, I didn’t know you’d have company.”

“Mommy, this is Mal, Jane, and Uma. My friends from school.” Evie grinned. “Guys, this is my mom.”

“Good evening, Ms. Grimhilde!” said the girls in chorus.  
  
“You can call me Regina. It’s nice to meet you all.” Her smile was as charming as her daughter’s. “What are you girls up to?”

The corner of Evie’s lips twitched. “We were, um, we were just—”

“Having a little tea party to discuss what we’re doing for my birthday. It’s next week,” Uma finished enthusiastically.  
  
“Really, how exciting. Alright then I’ll leave you to it. Ah, you found the candles. Excellent.”

Regina left but the girls waited to be sure she was out of hearing range to speak again.

“Good thinking Uma, thanks.” Evie breathed out in relief.  
  
“Well I didn’t lie. My birthday’s on the twelfth,” Uma revealed.  
  
“Awww listen to this little baby.” Mal snickered. “You have such a big mouth, sometimes I forget you’re the youngest of us.”  
  
“You know that old saying, always save the best for last.” Uma feigned flipping her hair over her shoulder. “And as the last to turn sixteen, I’ve been thinking about throwing an _epic_ party. I’m sure I can convince my mom to let me use the restaurant.”  
  
“I think it’s a very good idea,” Jane approved.  
  
“Me too. Am I invited?” Evie quirked her brow.  
  
“Of course! Everyone is. Even Miss Thing over here,” Uma said as she pointed her thumb towards Mal.  
  
“I’ll be happy to attend.” The blonde smirked.  
  
“You bitches better bring me gifts.”

Uma’s lips then parted in a wide ‘O’ shape like she had just had some sort of epiphany. “Oh my God, guys, I just realized our zodiac signs match—” she lowered her voice. “They match our elements! I’m a Scorpio, it’s a water sign.”

“Hey, you’re right! Libra is an air sign,” Jane said excitedly.  
  
“Right! Mal, you’re an Aries which is a fire sign,” Uma continued. “And Audrey’s a Capricorn, earth sign.”  
  
“When’s your birthday, Evie?” Mal turned to said girl.  
  
“March the first, I think that’s Pisces.”  
  
“Yep. Water sign. Hmm.” Uma leaned forward, plunging her gaze into Evie’s and smirked rather flirtatiously. “Maybe you associate more with water than the rest. Maybe you and I have more in common than we thought.”

She ignored the scathing look Mal shot her.

It was getting late and Uma, Jane and Mal found themselves compelled to wait for the rain to let up to go home. Evie’s mother offered to drive them, Jane being the only one who accepted because she lived the farthest, but Mal had her bike and Uma’s mother’s restaurant was easily reachable by bus. So after they said goodbye to Evie and parted ways with Jane, Uma and Mal were outside the building while the latter unlocked her bike…

… but didn’t quite understand why Uma hadn’t made a run for her bus stop yet, instead she was looking down at her with her arms crossed, hip cocked and that annoying smug little smirk of hers plastered on her face.

“What?” Mal blurted with a slight scowl.  
  
“You got it so fucking bad, dude,” Uma responded in a very low, and very _slow_ voice as she shook her head.  
  
“What the hell are you talking about?”  
  
“Sure, act like you don’t know.” The brown skinned girl scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t think I didn’t notice how you were making heart eyes at Evie the whole time we were in there, Malie.”

_Fuck, fuck, FUCK!_

Uma broke into laughter. “You should’ve seen your face when I teased her about being a water sign.”

The fire within Mal reached her face again causing her pale skin to turn crimson. Her heart raced and she didn’t even find the will to deny it. “You did that on purpose.”

“Well, duh! I wanted to see your reaction and boy you did _not_ disappoint.”  
  
“So you weren’t really—”  
  
“Flirting? Nah bro I’m cool,” she cut her off. “You on the other hand…”

Mal’s face grew even redder. “I swear to God if you don’t keep your blabbering ass mouth shut Uma I’ll—”

“Chill, I won’t tell nobody.” Uma rolled her eyes again. “But you better bet I’ll be on _your_ ass now, girl.”

Her impish cackle taunted Mal’s mind all night.

* * *

Things went a lot differently for Audrey.

Leaving the other girls in front of Melody’s house, she walked fast and didn’t stop until she had to wait for the subway train that would take her home.

She couldn’t believe her life right now. Just two weeks ago everything was still normal, and perfect. Just two weeks ago her biggest concerns were the rehearsals for her upcoming recital and keeping her grades high.

But now. Now it was all in shambles. She hadn’t minded too much that Evie began to hang out with them, but if she was honest it was from that moment that things started to go downhill. Not saying that everything was her fault, but before she came to town they didn’t have to deal with none of that supernatural bullshit. Sure, her grandmother had always counted her magical tales, ever since she was a kid, and she used to love them because to her they were never more than just that: made up stories that were meant to entertain her young mind. All of a sudden, she told another, bringing along a glowing jewel and she was supposed to believe that it was true?

Audrey knew better than that.

And for the cherry on top, her best friend in the whole world was gone.

The brunette’s heart tightened painfully in her chest at the thought. Melody and her parents had vanished without even leaving a note, a text, a voicemail, nothing. There could be a million reasons why – and certainly _not_ one related to a monster from another world, like how _dumb_ was that – and she didn’t want to assume the worst but she couldn’t help it. They had to tell someone. They should have told the police already.

It baffled her that the others had decided to side with Evie instead of her on that matter. She literally just showed up, they didn’t even _know_ her! Melody could be in danger.

It was all a big whole mess and she was afraid. There, she said it. She was terrified. She just wanted for all that nonsense to stop. She wanted Melody back.

Audrey pushed the front door of her home open with a dejected sigh. The only lights that were on came from upstairs.

“I don’t know what else to tell you, Mrs. Rose.” A voice that Audrey recognized as the family doctor’s echoed from the top of the stairs. “I think her body hasn’t completely recovered from that flu in the past month.”

Right. And as if everything else wasn’t enough, her grandmother hadn’t been feeling good these past few days and wasn’t recovering fast enough for Audrey’s liking. The elder woman had had congestive heart failure for years and despite the medication, Leah wasn’t so young anymore so, well, it was taking quite a toll on her.

“We’ll continue to do everything we can.”  
  
“Of course. Thank you, we really appreciate it,” her mother, Aurora, responded and Audrey could hear the sadness in her voice.

Blinking back burning tears, she decided that it was time to let her presence known as she climbed up the stairs. “Mommy, I’m home.”

“Hi, sweetheart. How was school?”  
  
“It was alright.” Audrey shrugged. “Is Grammy asleep? Can I go see her?”

Aurora smiled fondly upon her daughter and stroked her hair. “Of course you can. She’s wide awake.”

The brunette offered her a weak ‘thanks’ and headed to her grandmother’s room. She was in her bed – just like she had been the majority of her time – reading one of those old leather covered, gold rimmed books that she loved so much. The sight was endearing, Audrey thought. Enough to put a small smile on her face.

“Hey Grammy,” she said softly so it wouldn’t startle her.

Her grandmother’s face lit up. “Audrey, I’m so happy to see you. Come give me a kiss darling.”

She let her school bag drop by the door and happily obliged, sitting on the edge of the bed to plant a loving kiss on Leah’s warm cheek while taking her hand in hers.

“How are you feeling?”  
  
“Well, I’ve been better.” Leah merely shrugged, rolling her eyes ever so slightly. “How about you? How are things going with the other Guardians?”

Audrey’s smile faltered as she sighed. “Please Grammy, not this again…”

“I can tell that you’re having a hard time adjusting to it.”  
  
“That’s one way to say it,” Audrey mumbled.  
  
“You have nothing to be afraid of, you know. It’s in you. The sooner you embrace your power, the better you’ll understand it and your new purpose.”

When the sound of the thunder was the only response she got, Leah pointed towards her curtained window where a clay flowerpot filled with soil was settled on top of a small table. “Do you know what’s in that pot?”

“No, what?”  
  
“A tulip bulb. I just planted it today. Unfortunately, these flowers only bloom in spring.”

Audrey could feel where this was going, and she didn’t like it. She didn’t like it at all. “I know that. What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I would really like to see a tulip right now.”  
  
“Grammy…”

She didn’t want to do this. Because it would make everything all too _real_ when she had been trying to convince herself that it wasn’t.

“Won’t you do me this favor?”

And that was how she very, _very_ reluctantly gave in. Audrey’s hand was shaking uncontrollably when she raised it and turned her palm towards the pot. She forced herself to keep in mind that she was doing whatever the hell that was supposed to be for her grandma, to provide some light to help her go through what she was going through. Because if she didn’t put all of her focus on that and _only_ that, she would’ve fainted on the spot (literally) seeing a green stem rise from the potted soil, then leaves growing from it, and the unbloomed tulip spread its bright, beautiful pink petals until it looked as fresh as a spring miracle.

Gosh, she hated that it worked. It didn’t make any damn sense.

“There you go. That’s my talented little girl.” Leah squeezed her hand and kissed the back of it. “You and your friends are bound to do wonderful things, Audrey. You need to keep them close and trust them, and also to trust yourself. Only then you’ll realize how important and powerful you are.”  
  
“I don’t want to be powerful Grammy,” Audrey protested with just a wee bit of irritation. She put her other hand, the one she just ‘used’, behind her back. It had turned green, for all she knew. She didn’t want to see it. It sickened her just thinking about it. “I just want to be normal and finish school so you, Mommy and Daddy can come to my graduation and then I’ll go to college and—”  
  
“No one’s stopping you from having that, dear. You just need to add protecting the Veil into the equation.”  
  
“But I don’t want that. I’m not some kind of witch.”  
  
“Is that what you think you are? It’s a bit harsh.” Her grandmother raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in her expression. “Well, first of all, you’re not a witch, you’re a Guardian, that’s a lot different. And second, I’m afraid you don’t have much choice, you’ve been chosen. Which reminds me, I have something to give you.”

She nodded towards her nightstand. “Second drawer.”

Audrey opened it and since she figured Leah couldn’t be referring to her booklet of crossword puzzles, she assumed she was talking about the folded, yellowish piece of paper on top of it. It looked pretty old, and when Audrey unfolded it, it was completely empty.

“A blank piece of paper?” she said in confusion.

Leah giggled. “Is it now? Look closer.”

Again, the brunette did as she was told and slowly, patterns began to draw themselves on the rather large sheet before her eyes. _Must be another trick, or I must be tired. This is not magic, it cannot be_. Soon she recognized the patterns and her eyes widened in spite of herself.

“It’s a map of Auradon City.” Her curiosity got the best of her and she found herself examining the map attentively. “There’s a dark spot over Auradon Prep. Why are you giving me this?”  
  
“It’s a map of the portals,” Leah said calmly. “As far as we know, there are twelve of them but there could be more. The one at your school was closed which is amazing, and now you need to find the others.”  
  
“Well it looks pretty ordinary to me.”  
  
“Like I said before, everything will take its sense in due time.”

Audrey shook her head and folded the map back, fixing her gaze upon the elder woman’s to ask the question that was burning her tongue for quite a long time now (if she was being honest), “Where do you get all that stuff from anyway?”

Leah smiled like she couldn’t be happier that she asked. “That’s easy. I was a Guardian myself, when I was about your age.”

Okay now _that_ took the cake. Audrey couldn’t refrain the huff that left her mouth but Leah paid it no mind. “Everything you’re going through, me and my friends have been through back in the day. I know what it is. That’s how I know you’ll be successful.” She sighed. “Now could you be a dear and pass me my pillbox and that bottle over there?”

The stinging in Audrey’s eyes came back as she watched her beloved grandmother take her medication. The slowness of her movements and the slight trembling of her hands made her look very fragile, way too vulnerable all of a sudden.

Once again, she didn’t want to assume the worst, but she couldn’t help it.

“Okay. I think I’m going to sleep now.”  
  
“I’ll go do my homework then.” Audrey kissed her cheek. “Goodnight Grammy, sweet dreams.”  
  
“Goodnight, my love. Promise me you’ll think about what I said.”

Audrey Rose was a lot of things, but a liar was not one of them. So, she fought the shuddering in her voice to say, “I promise. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Very much.”

Once inside the safety of her bedroom, Audrey didn’t touch her homework at all. She let herself fall face down on her bed and sobbed her heart out into her pillow. When the power went out plunging her room into darkness, she felt like it was the perfect depiction of what her life had become. Eerie and sorrowful.

And she didn’t know if she would be able find light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I had to sneak a little Harry Potter in here in reference to my other fic haha. What's your House? I'm Slytherin.
> 
> Anyway. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for the kudos & feedback and I'll see you soon!
> 
> Xoxo


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! 
> 
> Long time no see, I know. Here's a super long update to make it up for it. (Okay maybe not that long but it's like 1.5k words longer than what I usually write).
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> TW: minor character death

In Kandrakar, the fair and loyal Tibor came to the Oracle bearing good news.

“Leah has done a wonderful work, Oracle. The Guardians have gotten the map of the portals,” he announced with a content tone.

But being him, the Oracle already knew that. A proud smile tugged at his lips. “Yes, she has fulfilled her duty admirably. Now we must proceed to the next step. Do you know what I mean, Tibor?”

He bowed his head respectfully. “Yes, Oracle, I do.”

“Good. You know what you have to do then, my dear friend. Do make sure that everyone is ready. I want that brave woman to get the reception she deserves.”

* * *

The sun shone brilliantly on this particular afternoon. The sky bore less clouds than usual and although it was still chilly, the air was light and crisp. The gold and scarlets that carpeted the grass were bright, bold and homely. As the Guardian of Earth, Audrey could (somehow) feel it better than everyone else, that in this specific place at this specific moment of time, the Earth was having a fine day.

And God did she _hate_ that. At least right now.

The brunette didn’t want to feel the warmth of the sun on her skin. She didn't want to hear the birds chirp. No. She would’ve wanted everything to be as grey and foggy as her emotions at the moment. It should be cold, and dark with silent air. Heavy like the tears that flowed down her face steadily. She felt numb inside. All day long, her body had been moving as though it was on autopilot. Mechanical, dull and empty. She barely felt the tight grip of her mother’s hand on hers, or her father’s arm circling her shoulders, as if her nerves were taking a break from sending signals to her brain.

Behind them, there was a small crowd. All relatives, or friends, or old acquaintances of the Roses. Among them, Audrey’s three aunts stood close, to them and to one another, sniffing and sobbing into silk handkerchiefs. Mal, Uma, Jane, Evie, and their parents were here too. Under the glare of the sun, everyone’s heads were down as several other red, puffy eyes spilled more tears onto the ground of Auradon’s City’s graveyard.

It was a beautiful fall day, and Audrey hated how the world was currently conspiring to show her that it would still go on, no matter the situation. Even without _her_.

It was a very beautiful day for everyone to say, with or without words, their final goodbyes to Leah Rose.

  * ** Flashback**



_“Hey hey happy birthday girl,” a boy said, tapping Uma’s upper back as he walked past her in the hallway._  
  
_“Thanks Zev!” Uma replied with a bright smile. “You got my DM, right? You’re coming to my party Saturday?”_  
  
_“‘Course I am. I wouldn’t wanna miss it.” He fist bumped her before turning towards an adjacent hallway._

_It was the morning break. Mal, Jane and Uma were on their way to get a snack, much deserved according to Uma after what had seemed to be the longest history and English classes ever. Nothing, however, seemed to be enough to ruin the brown skinned girl’s mood completely. Word had spread that she was throwing a party for her sixteenth birthday – obviously, since she had spent the entire periods sending out invitations via text, Instagram and Twitter, and she was far from being done – so you could say she was pretty ecstatic._

_“Geez, how many more people are coming?” Mal made a face at her as the girl began typing yet another text on her phone._  
  
_“I said I wanted it to be epic, didn’t I?” Uma smirked without even looking up._

_Mal rolled her eyes. “Yeah well maybe you don’t need to invite the whole school for that.”_

_“Don’t hate me ‘cause I’m fabulous, Malie. It ain’t my fault the whole school wants to party with me.” She stuck her tongue out at the scoffing blonde. “Don’t worry, I’ll still find time to hang out with you.”_  
  
_“Ha, ha,_ ha _.”_

_The trio reached their destination, the vending machines, where they spotted a familiar figure who was busy buying a nut granola bar._

_“Hey Audrey,” Jane greeted the girl with a wave of her hand._  
  
_“Oh, hi, what’s up?”_

_Things sort of had smoothed down since the slight outburst in front of Melody’s house, albeit the task of avoiding the topic of Melody’s disappearance and the whole Guardians matter in front of Audrey was a tough thing to do since it was becoming a major part of their lives. In spite of that, it was still a wee bit tense between her and Evie. Which probably explained the fact that the other brunette wasn’t here with her at the moment._

_With a playful roll of her eyes, Mal nudged Uma with her shoulder to push her out of the way of the machine, so she could get herself a bag of chips. “Beside the fact that Shrimpy thinks she’s the shit but isn’t? Nothing much. How was French?”_

_Uma gave her the middle finger while turning to the other machine, and Audrey actually giggled. “_ Trop bien, j’adore ce cours _,” (So good, I love this class) she said with a rather impressive mastery of said language. “And by the way,_ joyeux anniversaire _, Uma.”_

_“I have no idea what the fuck she just said,” Uma said nonchalantly as she picked up the bottle of apple juice and Skittles she had bought._  
  
_“She wished you a happy birthday, silly,” Jane chuckled._

_Uma’s mouth stretched into a wide, toothy grin. “Oh, thank you princess.”_

_“Cheater, you could’ve answered that in French,” Audrey teased, knowing damn well that Uma and that subject didn’t mix. “You’re welcome though.”_  
  
_“Hey, you’re the cheat—”_  
  
_“Ms. Knickerbocker,” Jane suddenly exclaimed, interrupting the banter._  
  
_“Good morning girls,” said the woman standing behind them. “I’m deeply sorry to interrupt, but I need to see Audrey in my office for a minute.”_

_To say they were surprised was quite an understatement. None of them had ever been called into the principal’s office before. The most mischievous things they’d ever done in school were skipping a class or two (or rather, Mal and Uma did, forcefully dragging Jane once but Audrey always refused to tag along) and making comments such as how badly Ms. Knickerbocker could use a wardrobe makeover, and they had always made sure she was out of sight every time they felt like doing it. That is, every single day. Yet here their principal was, her voice soft, but her very serious face told a different story which made it basically impossible for any of the girls to figure out on the spot if Audrey was in trouble or not. Which, if they were honest, was highly unlikely. Still, she followed behind the older woman after exchanging one last confused look with her friends._

_The girls waited patiently for her to return and give them the tea, but when the bell rang at the end of the break, Audrey wasn’t back. It was only when their next class was about to start that they all got a text on their group chat._

_**Audrey @ Baddest of them all:**_ Guys, I’m leaving. My dad is on his way to pick me up

 _ **Uma @ Baddest of them all:**_ Why, what’s going on?

 _ **Jane @ Baddest of them all:**_ Are you okay?

 _ **Audrey @ Baddest of them all:**_ …  
_**Audrey @ Baddest of them all:**_ Grammy died this morning

  * ** End of flashback**



The coffin was dark stained cherry and perfectly polished, as refined as had been the person who was lying in it. Unanimously judged too beautiful to be destined to disappear from sight, underground, but there also was the unspoken agreement that she deserved nothing less. Audrey recalled how her grandmother told her about being the Earth Guardian before her and well, she was now being reunited with the element she once was connected with.

The other four girls stayed at a safe distance. Jane was sobbing heavily, snuggled against Uma’s side, who had an arm wrapped around her shoulders and used her other sleeve to wipe at her own damp face. Mal, who usually despised crying in public, hadn’t done any efforts to hold back her tears and had let them roll down her cheeks during the service, and right now, well, she was fearing that her heart might pop right out of her chest.

Next to her, Evie was holding onto her tightly as she, too, shed heavy tears despite the fact that she had barely known the elder woman in her lifetime. The brunette’s hand had found its way around her wrist when they started lowering the coffin into the ground and had remained there ever since. She had looked straight ahead the whole time, to the heartbreaking scene of Audrey breaking down in her parents' arms, and hadn’t seemed to notice that she was stealing oxygen from Mal’s lungs with just that mere contact.

Mal herself wasn’t even sure that Evie had noticed that she was touching her but she hadn’t said anything. She couldn’t.

Looking to the other side of her, her eyes actually met Uma’s. At any other time, they would’ve jumped at the opportunity to tease each other about the fact that they caught the other crying. But now, not only did they not want to, they both knew it would be extremely rude and uncalled for. The brown skinned girl’s lips quivered and Mal pursed her own as they held each other’s bloodshot gazes for about five seconds, then looked away.

It was painful for all of them. They all liked and appreciated Leah.

At last, the ceremony ended and small groups of people were beginning to form, either to talk among each other or to approach Aurora and Philip, but Audrey subtly sneaked away from them and was now coming towards her friends. And just like that, Evie let go of Mal’s wrist.

“Oh, Audrey,” were the only words that managed to slip out of Uma’s mouth before the lighter brunette threw herself into her arms, hugging her and Jane at the same time.

“Th-thank y-you…” Her voice was shaky, barely louder than a hoarse whisper. “I’m s-so glad you all ca-came.”  
  
“Of course, we’re here for you,” Mal said softly, joining the embrace.

Evie took a small step back from them, not wanting to disrupt their moment.

“I-I asked Mommy and Daddy if you guys could, um, if you could spend the night at my house tonight. They’ll talk to your parents,” Audrey informed them as she pulled herself away, wiping at her nose with the back of her hand, before turning to Evie. “You too, Evie. I… I don’t wanna be alone.”

Evie nodded fast. “Yes. Of course.”

It wasn’t exactly the way she had imagined their first sleepover to go down, but it relieved her to see that Audrey wasn’t shutting her out completely. Which had been a fear of Evie’s considering they didn’t really see eye to eye on the whole Melody slash Guardians situation. The brunette could only imagine how awful the other girl felt at the moment, losing two people who were so important to her – though they didn’t really know if they had actually _lost_ Melody.

Therefore, later on, the five of them were reunited at Audrey’s. The girl’s parents didn’t bother to offer their guests to take the spare rooms, going with their usual sleeping arrangements. On a regular occasion, Melody would be sleeping in Audrey’s bed and the other three would do however they felt like with two extra double mattresses. But without the raven haired girl, and the addition of Evie, Audrey would be sleeping in her bed alone, Uma and Jane – being used to share a bed – took one mattress which left Mal and Evie on the other.

Knowing that, it was pretty easy to imagine how Mal was feeling.

At the moment, after the five of them ate dinner in front of some random Netflix movie and changed into their pajamas, they all sat in a circle on one of the extra beds, sharing funny memories and anecdotes of situations they found themselves in over the years that involved Leah. Against all odds, Audrey didn’t once cry again or asked for them to stop, for she was just glad to be able to talk about her grandmother even though it felt _extremely_ bittersweet.

She was glad that she wasn’t alone.

“I have to show you guys something,” the girl announced at some point, as she stood and headed to her desk.

She came back to the girls who scooted closer to see the object she had retrieved there.

“A map of the city? What for?” Uma asked.  
  
“It’s going to help us find the portals,” Audrey said calmly.

Jane, Uma, Evie and Mal shared quick confused looks, as it was the first time that Audrey brought up that subject without trying to contest or argue with them about it. Sure, ultimately they had all wanted for her to change her views but they all thought the timing was a bit odd, and Jane spoke up worriedly.

“Audrey, are you sure this is the right moment to—”  
  
“Grammy gave it to me.” Audrey cut her off gently. “She…”

The girl trailed that last word while taking a short, shaky breath, keeping her emotions in check. “I know I said all those things before, and I still find what’s happening to us _very_ hard to conceive, but Grammy was persistent, until the very last minute. She made me grow this tulip and…”

The tulip in question was currently placed on the edge of Audrey’s window, still looking as fresh as the day she made it grow. She hadn’t told her friends that story yet.

“Actually it doesn’t matter. She really believed in me. In us. And she wouldn’t have stopped until I believed, too.”

Evie, who was settled directly on her left side, put a soft hand on her shoulder and gave her a compassionate smile. Audrey returned it, her own smile a lot smaller.

“It still doesn’t make much sense to me though,” she said. “But I promised her I would try.”  
  
“Don’t worry, princess. We’re in this together,” Mal said.  
  
“I just hope it helps us find Melody.” Audrey sighed sadly. “And… I’m really scared, you guys. And now that Grammy’s not here anymore I… I don’t know…”  
  
“Hey, it’s okay,” Evie said in a gentle voice. “Believe me, we’re scared too.”  
  
“We have no idea what’s in store for us but like Mal said, we’ll stick together no matter what,” Jane assured.

Audrey looked at her four friends giving her hopeful looks and, in Uma’s case, a thumbs up. “Yeah.” She turned to Jane, changing the subject. “So did you bring it?”

“Ah, yes!” the girl abruptly rose to her feet and rushed to where she had put her bag. When she came back, she was holding a white package with a black ribbon on it and handed it to Uma with a shit-eating grin on her face. “This is for you. From all of us.”

Uma furrowed her brows a little as she took it. “What is it?”

“Your birthday present of course.” Mal scoffed playfully and rolled her eyes.  
  
“We were supposed to give it to you tomorrow at your party but…” Evie shrugged her shoulders and pursed her lips in a well-you-know kind of way.  
  
“Oh, right.”  
  
“Well what are you waiting for, open it,” Audrey pushed.

Uma obliged, the spontaneity of the gesture nearly bringing tears to her eyes – but she blinked them back because in her opinion she had already given enough of that for one day. It was a white and turquoise bomber jacket, customed with the infamous phrase she screamed at one of her swimming competition in freshmen year, one that she won even though the odds were fairly against her: ‘What’s my name?’. They were sprawled in bold letters across the back.

“Woah, that’s so cool! Thanks guys, I love it!”

* * *

Another Saturday, another morning to be spent at the sports center.

Uma flipped underwater and kicked the wall to launch herself into another lap. At this point she had stopped counting them. She had hardly taken any breaks in between them anyway, feeling the need to swim the frustrations away.

It had been a very tense week. For obvious reasons.

Hitting the wall of the swimming pool with the palm of her hand after what she finally decided would be her final lap, Uma rested her back against it as she pulled her goggles from her eyes to wipe at them and catch her breath. Only then did she notice the – you could say, in a way – familiar face in the lane beside hers.

Which caused her to roll her eyes heavily.

“Ugh, really? So what you’re stalking me now?”

Uma groaned to herself soon as the words left her mouth. Okay, true, there was no reason for her to sound that rude. The swimming pool was open to the public and Harry had every right to have decided to come swim on Saturday mornings just as much as she had. Did he really have to choose the lane next to hers when there was plenty of others that were available, though?

“Huh. Someone woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning,” the brunette boy noted, closed the distance between them to cross his arms over the lane line. “I did notice that your breaststroke was a little angered.”

“I had a tough week,” Uma said, a little too quickly, feeling a little ball tightening in her stomach.

Something about running into Harry for the second time, as he appeared to be making a habit of watching her swim, and that sudden proximity was making her _slightly_ nervous.

“Wanna talk about it? You look like you need to vent.”

Uma scoffed. “To you? I don’t even know you.”

“Maybe that’s exactly what you need.”

Hmm… he may have a point.

“Yeah, maybe. Okay.” She took a deep breath. “So my birthday was Wednesday and—”  
  
“Oh, happy belated birthday!” Harry grinned.  
  
“Thanks, but there’s nothing happy about it really.” Uma shook her head. “My friend’s grandmother died on that day.”  
  
“Did you know her well?”

The girl smiled in spite of herself at the memory of the woman. “Kinda. She was a dope one.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”  
  
“Thank you.” Uma paused for a second. “So yeah, there was that. I was supposed to host a party tonight but as you can imagine, I cancelled it.”  
  
“How do you feel about that?”  
  
“Well, to be honest… Gosh I’m going to sound so awful and selfish but I’m like, really disappointed. Everything’s been a little dense lately, and I just wanted one night to let go and have fun, you know? I was really looking forward to it. But instead of my sweet sixteen, I attended a funeral.” Under the water, her nails scratched against the rubber on her goggles a bit harder than they had previously been. _What am I doing_. Yet she spoke again. “I guess I’m a little frustrated that I got my moment taken from me. And now I feel like a horrible person for even thinking this. My friend just lost one of the most important persons in her life.”

_Not to mention the one who disappeared without a trace two weeks ago._

Oh, boy. It sure had been a _rough_ couple of weeks.

“You’re not a horrible person,” Harry said softly, seeking her eyes with his blue orbs. “It’s normal that you wanted to enjoy your special day. Now I must say I don’t think you’re being selfish at all.”

 _Whew._ Seeing it up close now, this intense shade of azure was one that was actually pleasant to watch. “Yeah?”

“I mean, you could’ve still had a party, and told your friend that she didn’t have to come if she didn’t feel like it. You would’ve still had your fun with those who would’ve shown up.”  
  
“Uh-uh, no way.” Uma vigorously shook her head. “Well, she did say that I could’ve done it anyway, but I couldn’t. It didn’t feel right, she’s one of my best friends.”  
  
“Ah, see? Right there. You renounced something _you_ really wanted because you cared about _her_ feelings and respected her grief. Sounds like the opposite of selfishness to me.”

A small smile traced her wet lips. Alright. Maybe venting to a total stranger wasn’t the worst concept after all. “I guess that’s not entirely false.”

“Of course not. Don’t beat yourself up so hard. You’re allowed to feel the way you feel.”

But reality caught up fast, too fast. “Yeah well it doesn’t change the fact that celebrating the day I was born is going to be extremely bittersweet from now on, knowing that it’s also the day somebody I knew passed away.”

“It will, at first. But it’ll get better with time. Trust me, I know.”

Harry actually lowered his gaze saying this, and Uma quirked an eyebrow at him. Sensing her unspoken interrogation, the boy continued.

“I was six when my mother left. And it was on Easter Sunday. It took me almost five years to stop spitting at the Easter bunny.”  
  
“Damn, I’m sorry.” Uma winced.  
  
“All good. I still had my Da’ and my sisters, we bounced back pretty well.”  
  
“Was that pun intentional?” She couldn’t help but to crack a smile.  
  
“Not even.”

Harry started to laugh, she found herself joining in. And she had to recognize it felt quite nice.

His laugh was nice. And gosh, that _jaw_...!

Fuck were her cheeks heating up for?

“Anyway um, I should get going. I have, uh, things to do.” She tried to make her voice sound as convincing as possible. “Um, thanks for playing therapist. I appreciate it.”  
  
“Anytime, love.”

_Huh, ‘love’?_

Uma was fast to tell herself that it was his nickname for every girl he talked to, which, weirdly, wasn’t _that_ comforting. It certainly didn’t calm the pounding in her chest as she swam past him to get out of the pool.

“See you next Saturday?” Harry teased as he put his own goggles on.

Uma frowned and huffed. “Don’t dream too much.”

She was off to the locker rooms pretty quickly, however she swore she heard a chant of ‘ _oh those sweet, sweet dreams_ ’ from the boy before he started his laps. She was hoping that the shower she was about to take would make the now burning feeling on her face go away because... _shit._

It did, but still every now and then, her mind would drift to a certain blue eyed swimmer, to her utter annoyance. So much for a relaxing swim. As she exited the building feeling all kinds of cool with her new jacket on, Uma decided she wanted some coffee. She had lied earlier. There was absolutely nothing that she had to do at the moment (homework aside of course). Therefore instead of heading straight back home, she made a stop at her and her friends’ favorite coffee shop.

There was a short line when she got there so she busied herself by scrolling down her Twitter timeline, until she recognized the voice of the person placing an order for a large vanilla latte at the counter, a couple of feet before her.

“Hey boss lady,” she called loudly.

Evie’s head shot to the side, noticing her. Uma had made an habit of teasing the brunette by calling her ‘boss lady’, in reference to what Audrey had said to her in front of Melody’s house the other day. Evie wasn’t a big fan of that – she really didn’t like the idea of being considered the one in charge of their group – but it still amused her, most of the times. As it did in that moment.

“Hey water gun,” she responded with an equally teasing smile, stepping to the side to make room for the next person.  
  
“You proud of that?” Uma scoffed.

Indeed, Evie looked very pleased with that new nickname she came up with for the Water Guardian. “I admit, I am.”

“It’s actually brilliant.”

The brunette then peeped the other girl’s not entirely dry hair and sports bag, which told her exactly where Uma was coming from. “Nice jacket. Had a nice swim?”

Thankfully, it was soon her turn to order so Evie didn’t see her blush because the answer to that question was, well… _damn it Harry Hook_. She asked for a double Americano, and when she turned back to the brunette she prayed that her face was back to normal.

“You could say that. How ‘bout you, what’s up?”  
  
“Nothing much. I was just about to take a walk in the park since the sun’s out. Care to join me?”

The park she was referring to was only a block away and was beautiful on a day like this. Along with the occasional joggers, children, or other folks walking their dogs, the two girls walked side by side in a slow pace whilst sipping on their hot beverages, enjoying the peace. The sound of the fallen leaves crunching under their feet was satisfying and soothing.

“So what was your life like back in Fadden Hills?” Uma asked, finding herself wanting to learn more about Evie whom she realized she didn't know much about.  
  
“You mean before I had magical powers?” The girl giggled softly. “Basic as all hell except maybe for my sophomore year.”  
  
“What happened then?”

Evie adverted her gaze from Uma and took another sip from her latte, seeming hesitant for a minute.

“I’ve known from a very young age that I was attracted to girls,” she finally confessed, with a side glance at the other girl, expecting some sort of ‘big’ reaction that didn’t come. Uma simply arched her brows, encouraging her to keep talking. Evie relaxed a little and continued, “I came out to my mother when I was fourteen, and although she was very supportive she warned me about the town people’s shitty mentality and always advised me to be extremely careful. So besides her, the only person who knew was my best friend Sofia and I was fine with that.”

Evie bit at her bottom lip. “But then your typical gay teenage drama happened. I was at a party and there was, um, an incident, let’s say. I won’t go into details but basically in the end some girls found out and outed me to the whole school the next week.”

“Oh, shit.”  
  
“Yeah. I saw exactly what Mommy meant then. I lost all of my friends, Sofia was literally the only one who stuck around, despite the rumors about me and her being a couple. Before you ask, we weren’t.”  
  
“I wasn’t going to. Were you badly bullied?”  
  
“Never physically, but you know, I was constantly getting picked on, called names and stuff. PE classes and the locker rooms became like hell on Earth.”  
  
“Wow, Evie, I’m really sorry you had to experience that. It’s actually a good thing that you moved.”  
  
“Such a happy coincidence, right?” Evie scoffed. “I still keep it low-key though because I don’t wanna have this kind of trouble here either.”

Uma shook her head and clicked her tongue. “You won’t. I’ve been out for ages and no one’s ever said or done anything to me.”

Evie didn’t hide her surprise. “You’re…”

“Bisexual? Totally,” Uma chuckled. “It’s the twenty-first century honey, heterosexuality is outdated and insipid.”

It made Evie let out a light-hearted laugh. Uma could tell she was relieved.

“I’m dead serious! I mean, take our group, literally _none_ of us is straight.”  
  
“What, for real?”  
  
“Well, there was Melody who claimed that she was but more than once her behavior said otherwise.” Uma rolled her eyes playfully. “But really though, none of us were bullied. So you’re free to be as gay as you want, okay?”  
  
“Okay.” Evie let out a puff of air. “Wow. I’m so not used to this.”  
  
“You’re welcome. Plus hey, we have powers now, bullies wouldn’t stand a chance against us.” Uma winked. “Holy shit, I bet we’re Kandrakar’s very first all-queer group of Guardians.”  
  
“Which automatically makes us the best they’ve ever had.”  
  
“You know it girl.” They high-fived. “So, has _anyone_ from the big city caught your attention?”

_How about a grumpy blonde with green eyes? Just maybe?_

Ever since Mal rather forcefully confessed that she had a crush on Evie, Uma had been watching the two of them interact a bit more closely. Knowing damn well that now that Mal knew that she knew, she tried her best to refrain herself from acting up. But the brown skinned girl always saw right past that. Now she was trying to figure out if there was anything going on on Evie’s side. With a little pride, she recalled the little stunt she pulled when they were sleeping over at Audrey’s. When they went to sleep, Uma purposefully settled on the side of her bed that would put her directly across from Mal, who lied next to Evie.

Mal slept best when she was on her side, whether it was left or right. So at first, she turned her back to Evie. But then she was faced with a wickedly smirking, wide-eyed Uma, and bet, despite the darkness in the room, Mal could see it all too clearly. Only fleeting seconds after, she turned back towards Evie and Uma had to stop herself from cackling.

She only changed positions when she heard their whispering voices.

Had anyone called for the self-proclaimed captain of the Mevie ship?

Evie answered her question by saying she’d seen ‘a whole lot of beautiful people here’, but Uma still peeked a slight blush on her cheek before she shook her hair in front of her face. Getting there, getting there.

* * *

Evie, Mal, Uma and Jane all admired that Audrey was back to school already, as they had all assumed that she would take a couple more days to grieve. On her side, Audrey thought that missing one and a half days on the previous week was already more than enough, so she was up and running as of Monday morning. Or so she said. The lingering sadness in her eyes panged their hearts every time they caught a glimpse of them, though they made sure not to address it. They could tell Audrey didn’t want anyone to pity her. At least not in public. So unless she’d make a request for it (which she didn’t) there would be no mention of Leah or the funeral.

After the bell rang on Tuesday to signal the end of class, they met up outside of the building to pretty much complain about the afternoon’s classes before they all headed home, when…

“ _Ow_ …” Evie brought a hand to the side of her head, squeezing her eyes shut as her mouth distorted into a grimace of discomfort.

The book she was holding fell on the floor with a thud, drawing the other girls’ attention to her. Mal rushed to pick it up, putting a hand on Evie’s shoulder to keep her from stumbling as she got up.

“Evie, are you alright?”  
  
“Feeling funny again?” Uma asked.

Same buzzing in her head. Just like the Halloween party. Just like that night when they were attacked in the school’s gym. Evie nodded slowly, fighting the dizziness.

“Oh. My God. Guys, look,” Jane’s urgent tone alerted them. She was pointing her index finger towards…

Mal’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit, it’s—”

“ _Melody_!” Audrey exclaimed.

They couldn’t believe their eyes. Yet they couldn’t all be hallucinating the same thing, could they? Because right there, further down the street, was the very person they had spent two whole weeks and then some worrying about. Dressed a way they were all used to see her in, very simply, dark blue jeans and a grey hoodie. Pitch black hair let loose and waving around with the soft wind. Without a scratch on the parts of her skin that were exposed.

Melody was there. She didn’t look hurt, but her face was impassive. Not the hint of a smile, or a glint of happiness or relief in her eyes upon seeing her best friends, who were so shocked they couldn’t even move.

Melody did. She began to walk down the sidewalk and that was the cue for the other girls to finally take off after her. She took a sharp right into a nearby street and so did the group of five. The narrow alley also turned out to be a dead end, causing the raven haired girl to be trapped between them, the back wall, and a couple of dumpster bins. But Melody remained perfectly calm, and without a word, rose her arm, palm turned towards the sky in a beckoning way, as she slowly backed up against the wall.

“Wait a damn minute,” Evie blinked and gasped seeing what happened next.

With _very_ good reason. “No fucking way. She’s going _through_ the wall?” Uma basically squeaked.

The five girls watched in utter bewilderment as the stone literally swallowed Melody, like she was a part of it, or like she was walking backwards into a waterfall, or whatever way suited the mind. But sure enough, a second later she was gone.

“I didn’t dream this, right? It was Melody, she was just there, wasn’t she?” Jane said in a high-pitched whisper.  
  
“The fuck she was,” Mal was panting a little, a hand resting on her stomach.

Audrey was the first to move, made her way to the wall, put both of her hands on it, feeling the rough surface and pushed into it. Only to be met with a hard, regular piece of stone. “It looked like she was trying to tell us something. We should follow her.”

“To where? She just went through that wall like a ghost!” Uma said bluntly.  
  
“Don’t say ‘ghost’ like she’s dead,” Audrey retorted.  
  
“My point is she could be anywhere,” Uma replied.  
  
“We should start with her house,” Evie declared, apparently feeling better.

They got there surprisingly fast. This time, they found the front door unlocked.

“She’s probably inside.” Audrey was already halfway in as she said that. “Melody?”

Mal frowned, seeing the others follow behind her. “So y’all are just going to get in like this? I’m pretty sure that’s trespassing and according to my mom it’s illegal.”

“No one’s forcing you to come along, Malie. You can wait outside if you want.” Uma couldn’t help but tease.  
  
“No way.” Mal gave in.

It was dark inside the living room, and there definitely was a faint musty smell that showcased the fact that all the windows had remained closed for several days. Mal quickly answered everyone’s silent demand for light by sending a couple of her fireballs toward the ceiling.

Audrey tried to act like she wasn’t slightly impressed – she hadn’t seen her do it at Evie’s, after all – and instead called loudly, “Mel?”

The other girls imitated her, dispersing across the house the check the rest of the rooms. All empty.

“Weird. They usually keep their basement door closed,” Audrey remarked, standing in front of said door watching it suspiciously.  
  
“I have a _very_ bad feeling about this. Basements are always bad news,” Jane said.

But it was still where they went, finding behind the door and down a set of stone steps, a humid circular room. If for most people the basement was the perfect place to store all sort of stuff that was unneeded most of the time, this one was almost utterly empty, with the exception of a few boxes and a broken bike.

“That’s gotta be the weirdest fucking basement I’ve ever seen,” Uma mumbled as she pushed a box aside with her foot.  
  
“If by ‘the weirdest’ you mean the creepiest then I second that,” Jane commented.

Mal’s fireballs projected their shadows onto the floor and the walls, the tall shapes dancing with the flickers of the flames.

“Are we sure she even went here?” the girl added.  
  
“We—”  
  
“Come to me, my friends.”

They all turned to see, with loud gasps, Melody standing on the opposite side of the room.

“There she is!” Evie stated the obvious, but just like the rest of them, well, she was both agitated and relieved.  
  
“Come to me, come,” Melody repeated…

… before backing into the wall, merging with it, disappearing into it, again.

“Shit, she’s doing it again,” Uma groaned and rushed forward, in an attempt to get to Melody before she was gone completely.  
  
“Come, come…”  
  
“God damn it,” the brown skinned girl muttered under her breath, stomping the floor with her foot in frustration.  
  
“So now she’s somewhere behind that wall. What do we do?” Mal asked.  
  
“Step back,” Audrey ordered.

She had a determined look on her face when she placed herself a few feet from the wall, and outstretched her arm in front of her. Before anyone could question her intentions, a loud blast echoed throughout the room as thick pieces of cement flew everywhere and a cloud of dust filled the space. When their visions cleared, there was a large arched opening in the wall, revealing what was behind it.

“Wow,” Jane murmured.  
  
“It’s good to finally see you use your powers, princess.” Uma smirked at Audrey, who merely shrugged.

They filed one by one into a candle-lit corridor with red brick walls and a high roman like vaulted ceiling. Way higher than the actual ceiling height of the basement. It extended some several dozens of feet in front of them, to the point where they couldn’t see where it ended. Or if it even did.

“What the hell is this?” Mal said, taking in her strange surroundings.  
  
“Are we still under Mel’s house?” Jane added.

Evie gestured to the painted symbol she was standing at the very center of. “Look at that big sign on the floor. It looks like a darker version of the Heart of Kandrakar. Like its evil twin.”

It was the same circle, with the same little spikes at the top and bottom, however with a much more somber tone to it. The circle was only half full, and the spikes didn’t have those nice curved edges that the actual Heart had and seemed sharp.

“You think this place might be linked to Kandrakar?” Mal questioned.  
  
“I don’t know what to think,” Evie sighed.  
  
“Well, I believe I do.” Audrey said. She was holding her grandmother’s unfolded map. “The map was heating up, and look, there’s a new spot on it.” She put the tip of her finger there. “This is exactly where Melody’s house is.”  
  
“You mean where _we_ are. So there’s a portal here?” Uma said.  
  
“Only one way to find out, we have to keep moving.”

They carefully walked down the corridor, searching for any kind of abnormality – ironic concept considering that there was nothing normal about the place they had found themselves in to begin with – when, all of a sudden, a sonorous rumble resonated from beneath their feet, startling them all. Several of the tiles that paved the ground rose at once, as it seemed like the floor itself elongated to the ceiling, creating yet another wall that separated the corridor in two.

It was with terror that they realized the aftermath of this phenomenon: Jane was stuck on the other side.

“ _Jane_!” Uma bellowed, banging on the wall with her fists.

Her voice came as a muffled scream. “What is this? Guys, don’t leave me out there!”

“Hang on J, we’re coming!” Mal screamed back.  
  
“Something’s happening here. Oh… oh, no-no-no-no. The-the portal… it j-j-just opened!”

Audrey stepped forward. “Alright, watch out, I’ll break the wall.” In an attempt to reproduce what she had done earlier to get them here, the girl lifted her hands, feeling her magic swelling through her fingers. Alas, nothing happened this time around. She tried again, harder, but the wall didn’t budge. “It’s not working, this thing’s resisting and fighting me back like it’s alive!”

“We’re not strong enough,” Evie realized in panic. “We need—”

 _Yes, that’s it_. It was exactly what they needed. She held her closed fist against her ribcage, close to her heart, and closed her eyes.

_Heart of Kandrakar, we need our full powers._

Immediately responsive, the glowing little jewel shot orbs of light into the air as soon as Evie reopened her palm, surrounding Uma in a turquoise light, Evie in a pink one, and in addition this time a bright orange light engulfed Mal while Audrey disappeared under a flash of light green. The four girls were lifted off the ground, for a magical shift that only two of them were familiar with. Uma and Evie exchanged satisfied looks once the blinding light vanished, then glanced over at the Earth and Fire Guardians.

Mal’s new outfit consisted of a black and purple turtleneck cropped shirt with short sleeves that were cut like flames at the ends, and purple leggings that were ripped at the front of her thighs. Unlike the others, she had gloves covering her hands, leathered, black and fingerless, and her new shoes were black combat boots. But the most shocking change was her hair. Long, pale blonde tresses had become a shoulder length bob of a dark purple color.

In a completely different style, Audrey’s resembled a ballet dress. A pink, off-the-shoulder corset with long fitted sleeves that formed a triangle-like shape across the back of her hands, that had small lace roses embroidered all over and flowed into a short fluid skirt made of darker pink. At her feet were matching high heeled, knee high boots. Her light brown locks had remained, but now had pink highlights in them, with a little tiara at the top of her head.

And then of course there were the fairy wings.

“Wow, you were right, these _are_ cool outfits!” Mal didn’t conceal her amazement.  
  
“Told ya,” Uma flipped her magically acquired teal braids over her shoulders.  
  
“I admit it’s quite nice.” Audrey spun around giving the skirt a twirl, with a tiny giggle that she couldn’t control.  
  
“Peep our wings—”  
  
“We’ll admire ourselves later, guys,” Evie cut in as if she wasn’t just gawking at her own navy blue ensemble barely three seconds ago. “Try that wall again Audrey.”

With her powers amplified by the transformation, Audrey was able to channel enough energy to blow a hole into the magic wall in a massive explosion, big enough to get them through. A trembling and visibly frightened Jane was waiting for them on the other side, huddled against the wall of the corridor as far away as possible from the large, threatening, flaming gape on the other wall.

The portal to Metaworld.

“Jane, you’re okay?” Evie ran over to her and securely wrapped her arms around her, surprised to see her still in her day clothes. “Why aren’t you transformed?”  
  
“I don’t—I don’t know, I-I guess the wall di-didn’t let it through.”

Jane let herself be pulled up on her shuddering legs, clutching to the blueberry haired girl for dear life, just as a deep growl was heard behind them.

“Well, well, well.”

The huge figure of the Metaworld creature they had encountered in the gym, Vathek, stood in front of the portal. He didn’t look the slightest bit different, still as tall and menacing as before, if not more.

“ _What the heck_!" Audrey shrieked and jumped at the sight.  
  
“Oh Lord, again?” Uma rolled her eyes. “Damn you’re still ugly as fuck.”

The blue monster seemed rather entertained by the insult. The sneer that stretched his mouth, showing a row of sharp teeth, sent cold shivers down their spines. “We meet again, Guardians.”

Evie and Uma went straight upfront, followed closely by Mal and Audrey, the four of them forming a defensive line in front of Jane.

Mal slightly leaned towards Evie with her eyebrows furrowed. “Is that—”

“Precisely. Watch out!”

Yellow eyes turned white as Vathek shot lightning bolts their way, faster and with less restraint than the last time. It was paradoxically easier to dodge, since there were more of them and they all rightfully figured that if they spread out to occupy the space instead of staying close together, he’d have a harder time aiming.

“Look I don’t know you but you’re already getting on my nerves.” Two blazes the size of oranges burst forth from Mal’s hands like cannon balls, hitting the monster with force on his left side and right shoulder respectively and throwing him off a little bit.  
  
“Damn. Not so bad for a rookie,” Uma said.  
  
“Yeah, pretty sure these ones burned,” Mal scoffed as she massaged her left wrist.  
  
“But not enough.” Evie, in turn, sent one of her pink energy blasts towards Vathek before he could recover from Mal’s attack.

In the meantime, Uma had formed some kind of water rope out of thin air that she maneuvered as a whip to deliver a blow to the side of his face.

“How’d you make that?” said Audrey’s voice next to her.  
  
“Air humidity. It works better in my bathroom though.”

Uma’s makeshift weapon had been too thin to bring Vathek into complete unconsciousness, but it at least buzzed him enough to give them a few seconds to figure out their next move. Closing the portal was the obvious thing to do. Getting the blue monster through it beforehand was another. And Evie had gotten an idea.

“Jane, if we manage to knock him out do you think you could make him fly through?”  
  
“It’d take a strong wind but yeah, I guess.”  
  
“Okay then let’s—”  
  
“No, stop, stop!”

It was unclear where Melody was coming from, but for the third time in less than an hour, the black haired girl had appeared in their line of sight, taking slow steps towards them after having shouted these words.

“Melody,” Audrey whispered, almost sounding like a plea.  
  
“Stay back Melody, that beast is dangerous!” Evie tried to warn her.

But Melody kept walking, until she was standing directly between Vathek and the Guardians. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Is she seriously siding with the gorilla?” Uma said angrily.  
  
“Melody, what are you doing?” Mal cried out.  
  
“Fighting will only lead you to your doom.”

Her face was shockingly emotionless. It was as if she couldn’t hear her friends talking to her, calling for her. Or if she could, the way she just ignored them was just about as scary. If they had to compare that to anything, they’d probably say it felt like confronting a robot that had just been meticulously programmed to deliver these lines.

“What? What do you mean?” Evie enquired.  
  
“What happened to you Mel? Please tell us so we can help you,” Audrey basically begged.  
  
“Our time is coming, time for us to finally rise,” Melody said in a softer voice although it sure sounded like a deadly threat to the rest of them. Behind her, Vathek had risen back onto his feet and bared sharp teeth at them one last time, then crawled through the portal. Melody, too, began to back into it. “Join me. Join me before it’s too late.”

“No, wait, don’t go!” Audrey called for her best friend, in vain.

Melody was already standing in the middle of the ring of blue fire. “Join me,” she repeated.

The flames started to spin in a circle while growing larger and larger, gradually reducing the size of the portal. Closing in on Melody. Eventually they met at the center, and in another blinding explosion and a puff of white smoke, it disappeared.

Melody was gone once again.

The now messy corridor was then plunged in a disturbing silence for some long minutes, all five girls standing there all stunned by what had just happened.

“What do you think she meant by all that?” Evie spoke at last.  
  
“I don’t know. I’m so confused,” Jane said as she ran both hands through her hair.  
  
“I’m not. She’s clearly on the bad guys’ side now,” Uma mumbled. “But at least we know she’s alive.”

Mal shot her a look. “Was that even her?”

“Oh my God, guys, stop!” Audrey blurted. “Of course it was her. They must’ve done something to her. God, I can’t believe we let her go.”

“Well, maybe this will lead us somewhere.”

Jane had crouched down to look at something in the middle of the debris. It looked fairly out of place but there was a book there, a thick, ancient looking volume with dark brown leather covers. The Air Guardian picked up the heavy item and blew on it, chasing the dust away. There wasn’t a single word there, neither were there a symbol or a drawing.

“Where did that come from?” Mal asked.  
  
“I wish I knew.” Jane seized the front cover and pulled, but it didn’t move. Although there was no visible lock on it, the book seemed sealed. “It won’t open.”  
  
“Oh… okay, m-maybe don’t… try this right now.” Evie was grimacing again, fingers on her temples as her vision blurred and her ears buzzed.  
  
“Oops, sorry.”  
  
“Amazing, another mystery.” Audrey threw her hands in the air.  
  
“We’ll have to study this book though, we might find some kind of clue,” Jane remarked.

Uma let out a long groan. “Great. As if we didn’t have enough work with school already.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Refer to chapter 2 if you forgot what Uma and Evie's Guardian outfits look like.
> 
> This little hiatus wasn't planned at all. I was quarantined and working from home and all that but being alone all the time kind of messed me up mentally. I couldn't be productive for more than an hour or two a day and since I still had to keep up with my internship, well, I put writing aside for a while. Things are smoothing down now though. Sort of.
> 
> On another note, there's so much going on in the world right now, it's pretty overwhelming, I hope y'all are staying safe. If you're out on the streets protesting, please please please be careful. If you're not, here's a [link](https://currentintissues.carrd.co/) where you'll find all kinds of petitions to sign and orgnizations you can donate to or just educate yourself on these issues. There are many more of course. There are always ways to help. Be part of the change.
> 
> See you guys later! Oh, and I really like it when you comment and tell me what you thought ;)  
> Xoxo
> 
> PS: #BlackLivesMatter.


	5. Chapter 5

She had been walking for a while now.

How long, she couldn’t tell. In her mind, it felt like hours. The surprising thing was that whatever amount of time she had been in that place, she wasn’t feeling any kind of tiredness whatsoever. Actually, she wasn’t exactly sure that she was even producing any effort. The continuous lack of solidness underneath the bottom of her shoes as she mechanically put one foot after the other, in slow and steady steps, made her doubt the fact that she was even walking. Was she standing on mere air? So she would be… floating, and walking at the same time?

Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t even bothered to look downward to check. Within her there was this strange feeling of peace and trust. Utter serenity that was located all around her somehow and was rubbing on her from the outside, then squeezed through the pores of her body to reach the deepest parts of herself. Without being aware of how, she _knew_ where she was heading even though there was nothing but clouds around her.

That was it! She was walking on a cloud! And if to anyone who could be watching it seemed like she was lost, she was not. This place, it was Kandrakar.

Albeit there was no sign of the white fortress she had seen in her previous dream, there was no doubt that it was, in fact, where she was. She knew, because the Heart knew. The Heart was home. And so was she.

“Eve.”

She chuckled with surprise at the call of her nickname, the sound echoing through the sea of thick clouds. Was there someone else here?

“Eve, wake up.”

_I’m up, I’m here._

She lifted her chin and deeply inhaled some of the purest air she had ever breathed in her life.

“Evie wake yo ass up!”

_Uh?_

The clouds around her began to shift, slowly closing in on her. Soon, they were so close they completely blocked her vision, surrounding her in darkness. Or maybe it was because she had closed her eyes in sudden fear of what to expect. When she opened them again, it was a little bit of a struggle. Balled up underneath her blankets, face buried in her pillows and hair all over the place, Evie grunted grumpily at whoever had awoken her.

“Mmmmmwhat?”  
  
“Don’t ‘mmmmwhat’ me. You have somewhere to be this mornin’, remember?”

In an attempt to chase the sleepiness away, Evie rubbed her heavy eyelids before contorting her body under the covers to stretch herself with a long and high-pitched whimper.

“Yeah, I know,” she mumbled as she blindly reached for her phone on her nightstand. “But I have time, it’s only—fuck!”  
  
“Yeah ‘fuck’ is right.”

Evie sat up abruptly, to the point that her head spun a little. “Damn it Luna, I remember setting an alarm last night. Are you broken?”

“Girl, fuck is you talkin’ ‘bout? I been tryin’ to wake you up for half an hour,” the metallic voice of Luna the smartphone protested and ‘kissed her teeth’ as her owner frantically swiped her fingers across the screen. “That musta been one hell of a dream.”

“It was, to be honest.”

Indeed, an alarm had been set for nine thirty this very morning and her friends’ group chat was blowing up with messages. The brunette cursed again under her breath. Earlier during the week, Uma and Mal came up with the perfect spot to train and they were supposed to meet there at eleven. And well, now she was late.

“‘K well hurry up then, you have exactly nineteen minutes to get ready and leave if you wanna be on time,” Luna said while blinking the flashlight in the girl’s face.  
  
“Ugh, damn it,” Evie groaned, tossing the ballsy device aside to get up.  
  
“And don’t take your sweet time in the bathroom lady. You know how you get.”  
  
“I really have to think of another name for you. You’re way too harsh with me to be Luna.”  
  
“Hey I heard that! And I ain’t harsh, I just keep it real. Now hurry.”

After what had probably been the quickest shower Evie had ever taken on a Sunday morning, she made her way to the kitchen to grab something to eat, fairly certain that she would find her mother in there. She already felt bad about the idea of running off when the pair kind of had made it a habit to have brunch together on Sundays over the years, for some much appreciated mother-daughter bonding time. Actually, it was the reason why she had planned to wake up earlier, but alas that was pretty much screwed.

Expectedly, the older Grimhilde woman, who was at the kitchen counter sipping on her coffee, greeted her daughter with a teasing smile. A plate of mouth-watering croissants laid in front of her, along with a jar of raspberry jam, peanut butter and two glasses of apple juice.

“Good morning sleepy head.”  
  
“Morning Mommy.”

The teenager quickly pecked her mother’s forehead before heading to the fridge (while trying to refrain herself from greeting him as well), and it was only then that Regina seemed to notice that her daughter was already fully dressed with her shoes already on.

“You’re going somewhere?”

Evie took cream cheese out of the fridge and turned around slowly, readying herself to reveal the news that she knew wouldn’t please her mother at all. “Yeah, I made plans with my friends. Didn’t I tell you?”

“No, you didn’t.” The woman said with a tilt of her head and a slight frown. “What about our Sunday brunch? You know those are the only days when we get to spend some real time together.”  
  
“Aw man.” Evie almost inaudibly mumbled to herself. Well. She couldn’t say she didn’t know this would happen. “I’m so sorry Mommy, I can’t really cancel.”

She cut a croissant in half and began to smear cream cheese on it. Frankly, seeing how disappointed her mother looked in that moment, the girl felt rather awful. But unfortunately, she could hardly picture herself calling her friends like ‘hey guys, I’m sorry I won’t come practice magic with you today, on Sundays I have brunch with my mom”. Especially since it had been her idea in the first place.

“I mean, it’s you who always says that I work too much,” Regina added, not hiding the dash of bitterness in her voice.  
  
“I know, I know, I’m really sorry. We’ll hang out in the evening, okay?” Evie offered in an ultimate attempt to make it up to her.  
  
“I—well, alright then,” the woman gave up with a sigh, raising her cup to her lips.

Evie did the same with her glass of juice, finishing it in four big gulps before she kissed her mother’s cheek loudly.

“Cool. I love you. Bye!”  
  
“I love you, too.”

Within the next two minutes, she was out the door, croissant already half eaten and keys in hand to retrieve her bike from the bicycle storage of the building. Because yes, she had a bike now. A lady who lived on the sixth floor kindly gave it to her, claiming her son had no use for it anymore. Despite her firm intentions to buy it, the woman insisted that she had it for free. So now she understood why Mal loved hers so much. It was way more convenient to get around, all while staying in shape.

Besides, the route she had to take by bike was way faster than the one she would have to take with public transports. With a much better scenery, if she may. She was currently passing through a park, enjoying the crisp of the fallen autumn leaves under the wheels, breathing in the fresh breeze that blew in her face while the tall trees shielded her from the shy sun…

… until a skateboarder who was coming the other way stumbled upon a rock and crashed right in front of her.

“Oh my God!” Evie yelled, pressing hard on her brakes.

The boy had flown in a superman pose and fallen flat on his face in the dust, his board rolling a few feet further. Evie realized with shock that he didn’t appear to be wearing any protection gear, and instinctively she jumped off her bike to hurry to his assistance.

“Are you alright?”

He grunted as he pushed himself up. Thankfully, he didn’t look hurt. The front of his blue and yellow jacket and dark jeans were covered in brown dirt. Fully straightened up, he was easier a head taller than Evie, all in muscles. He flashed a wide, confident grin at Evie with a flip of his long black hair over his broad shoulders.

“I’m fine, thanks. Don’t worry. Happens all the time,” he said, then pointed a finger at her. “Hey, you go to Auradon Prep, don’t you? I’ve seen you there.”

“Yeah, I do.” The brunette smiled gently. “I’m Evie.”  
  
“Jay.”

 _Melody’s crush_ , she eventually remembered, feeling her chest tightening.

“Nice to meet you. I’m kind of in a hurry but are you sure you’re okay?”  
  
“Yeah, yeah I’m cool.” Jay nodded, dusting his clothes and adjusting his red beanie on top of his head. “I’ll see you around. Have a good one.”

He was clearly limping a little when he went to get his board but Evie decided to leave him be. Her friends were expecting her.

“Boys…” she sighed as she shook her head, before getting back on her bike.

Upon arriving to her destination, Evie immediately understood why it was suggested as their training ground. Before her, behind a high barbed wire fence, was the vast site of an abandoned factory located on the outskirts of Auradon City. The ground itself was a mix of cracked concrete, untamed grass and hostile thorn bushes, while the main edifice looked every bit like one that hadn’t been inhabited for years: devoid of windows and almost entirely covered in graffiti.

The brunette got off her bike, eyeing her surroundings carefully. Despite the fact that it was broad daylight and that the birds were chirping, there was a creepy vibe to the place and she knew for a fact that wandering around there by herself wasn’t something that she would do for fun. She kind of regretted that she had overslept thus had been late to ride with the other girls.

 **Mal @ We’re witches, bitches!:** _Go through the hole in the fence and we’ll be on the other side of the building_

After the most recent events that occurred in Melody’s house, they realized how disturbing it really was to keep talking in a group chat that had said girl in it – especially when talking about Guardians matters – yet for some reason none of them had dared to remove her from it. Audrey in particular argued that doing that would be like admitting and accepting the idea that her best friend was gone for good, which she was vehemently opposed to. So they just created a new one and as per usual Uma had a lot of fun finding the right name for it.

Evie had to walk a little along the fence to find the entrance Mal told her about and before she could ponder which direction to go from there, a thudding sound in a short distance caught her attention, followed by the echo of faint voices, indeed, from the other side of the building. The path led her around what used to be a parking lot that was littered with broken glass, empty beer bottles and piles of burned tires. Apparently they weren’t the only ones who enjoyed the remoteness of the place for unorthodox activities. And soon enough, she found her friends.

“Oh my mother- _freaking_ God,” Evie whispered to herself.

From where she was, she had just witnessed Jane doing a push-up movement with her arms, and a huge and heavy looking block of stone that was already floating high above the ground being propelled fifty feet away from her. And that would’ve been impressing enough as it was… but in addition to that, Jane herself was levitating as well. To say the least, it blew Evie’s mind away. Pun intended.

Face flushed due to the effort and under the praise of their other comrades, the Air Guardian was also the one who noticed her approaching and greeted her with an enthusiastic wave as she landed back on the ground.

“Hey Evie, you made it!”  
  
“Finally she decides to show up,” Uma teased, hands on her hips. “We started without you, I hope you don’t mind.”

Evie chuckled as she dropped her bike. “Not at all. What did I miss?”

“Well, we could honestly put on a good circus show. Malie can juggle with fire and J just showed us she could shot-put a three-hundred-pound rock.”  
  
“And I can fly without my wings!” Jane added excitedly.  
  
“And Shrimpy can outdo any automatic sprinkler out there,” Mal finished with a smirk.  
  
“Aww, that’s about the nicest thing you’ve said to me today,” Uma cooed, exaggeratedly putting a hand on her chest. “Anyway. Now it’s Audrey’s turn to show us something.”  
  
“Do I have to?” Audrey sighed.

The lighter brunette stood aside, looking too sophisticated and awkwardly out of place in the blush pink blouse, olive green skirt and beige trench coat she was wearing. Everything in her body language reflected her uneasiness, with the visible way her jaw clenched from time to time and the deep breaths she took, to her arms that clutched her torso as though she was cold when it wasn’t really the case.

“Well yeah, that’s what we came here for.” Uma shrugged.  
  
“Ugh, fine,” Audrey groaned.

Under the watchful eyes of her fellow magicians, Audrey reluctantly extended her arms forwards, palms turned towards another stone block. About a dozen green vines, some as thick as baseball bats, grew from the ground underneath and wrapped themselves around it. If the other girls didn’t understand where she was going with that at first, they sure did when the vines tightened their grips around the hard stone until it cracked and shattered in smaller pieces before their eyes.

“That was dope,” Evie was the first to comment admirably.  
  
“Yup, well done princess,” Mal followed on, giving the girl a thumbs up while Jane clapped.

But Audrey merely dropped her arms and scoffed, “Yeah, whatever.”

“Okay so what now? Do we change?” Jane chimed in, bouncing eagerly.  
  
“It’s more likely that we fight that way so we might as well,” Mal pointed out, in response getting affirmative nods and hums from her friends.  
  
“I just really hope no one shows up,” Uma then remarked. “Us doing magic is one thing but us doing magic in these awesome—”  
  
“Yeah, we get it.” Audrey cut her off. “Just get it over with Evie.”

In the past couple of weeks, Evie had gotten fully acquainted to the Heart of Kandrakar being a part of herself, didn’t even question its presence within her anymore. Its energy flowed through her like her own blood and therefore summoning it had become as natural and easy to her as breathing. The little jewel rose from the palm of her hand, its homely glow spreading all around and warming her skin, before fulfilling her unspoken demand with blinding colorful light flashes. Less than a minute later, the Guardians were transformed and ready.

Now, the change itself was something they had yet to get acquainted to. Especially at this moment as it was the first time that they were all transformed at the same time. The odd way that their new looks all matched despite being five different color themes was fascinating. Even for Audrey, who flashed the tiniest of smiles as she smoothed out her pink dress.

“I just _wish_ I could take a picture of us like that ‘cause damn we look good,” Uma whined.  
  
“These would make the coolest Halloween costumes,” Jane laughed.  
  
“Halloween?” Mal countered. “I would wear this to school.”  
  
“Your sense of style is scandalous,” Uma grimaced.

Sensing the pointless bickering coming before it even started, Audrey cut in, “Can you guys not?”

“Yeah, let’s focus,” Evie agreed with a soft smile. “I suggest we work on our individual skills. I bet we haven’t even seen the last of what we can do. I for example don’t have an element like you guys. I’d like to figure out what my powers are exactly.”

“Look at _you_ taking charge all of a sudden,” Mal teased in an unexpected fit of boldness, winking at Evie whose face instantly grew hot.

Unknowingly to the rest of them, this very comment made Audrey roll her eyes _hard_.

Evie struggled to find her voice afterwards, “W-well it was just an idea, we don’t… I mean it’s not—”

“I’m kidding E, it’s a good idea.” Mal smiled brightly.  
  
“E?”

The blueberry haired girl released a little chuckle while arching her eyebrows at her purple haired counterpart. And just like that it was Mal’s turn to get flustered, cheeks taking up a crimson tint by the second.

“Y-yeah, as in… y’know, your name’s Evie and—”  
  
“No it’s fine, it’s just… No one’s ever called me that before. I like it,” Evie giggled. “M,” she added with a little smirk. “That hair color really suits you by the way. It brings out your eyes.”  
  
“Th-thanks, yours too, it’s–”  
  
“ _Ah-hem_ , are you two done?” Uma cleared her throat loudly, glaring at the pair although she would’ve loved to see where all that complimenting was going. Unfortunately they had bigger fish to fry. “As much as I agree with our boss lady, I think Jane should help us with these first,” she said pointing to her wings.  
  
“Why me in particular?”  
  
“Well, you’re the Air, you said it yourself silly. And the only one who’s used them so far.”  
  
“Am I?” Jane squeaked. “Right, I am.”  
  
“So, J, how do we fly?”

Jane’s face warmed up with the blush that reached her cheeks at the now four expectant pairs of eyes fixed upon her. She knew she couldn’t back down from this. The Air Guardian cleared her throat as she nervously played with the tips of her magically elongated hair.

“Uhmm, the thing is I didn’t really have to think about it when I did it. It just came to me,” she explained with a little embarrassed smile. “But I guess what you need to do first is to start considering the wings like actual parts of your body, another pair of members, just like your arms and legs. We don’t need to focus much to move those, right? We just do it.” She paused to make sure the others were following her. “So that being said, feel your wings and move them.”

Following the initial awkwardness, the girl had to refrain a laugh seeing how all of her friends crunched their faces in concentration to complete the simple task. All probably trying to figure out which part of their brains held the ‘wing control’ panel. But little did they know, it wasn’t much of a brain thing. It was more about channeling the magic that fueled them into the right place and trusting that they could do it despite not possessing the powers of the Air.

Mal was the first to get results. “It feels so weird,” she said, glancing behind her back as her wings swung back and forth.

One by one, the others soon made similar statements and after Audrey, the last to achieve, whined at the feeling of her wings moving, Jane took it as a cue to move on to the next step.

“Okay so now you need to, um, move them really fast and try to find a steady rhythm.” She demonstrated the movement. “You should start to feel a bit lighter, like just barely.”  
  
“Uhh, are you sure they can lift us? They look so fragile.”  
  
“Trust it, Evie. They might be tiny but they’re as strong as your two legs, if not stronger. Once you feel ready give yourself an impulse and—” The girl kicked the ground hard and took off so fast she raised dust while doing so. Arms spread, she cleaved through the air in a whirl as she got higher and higher. “— _you can fly, you can fly, you can flyyyyy_!”

Mal put her hands around her mouth, “Jane, this isn’t Peter Pan.”

“Nope, it’s even better. No pixie dust to run out of because we have real wings!”

A few minutes later, aided by Jane’s somewhat clumsy yet helpful instructions, the girls were flying around the parking lot. Though not as high and as fast as her, except for Mal who got the hang of it the fastest and challenged the Air Guardian in a race that she predictably lost. Overall, things were going pretty smoothly until Audrey descended towards the ground.

“I can’t. This isn’t for me.”  
  
“But you were doing really good,” Jane pouted.  
  
“Sorry Jane, I feel like this is draining me way more than it should.”

She indeed didn’t look so good after the short time she had spent in the air.

“It’s the Earth,” Evie suddenly said.

Audrey made a face at her so she was quick to get to her point, “The Earth is your source of power and flying separates you from it, which is why you feel weaker in the air. Your powers and Jane’s are kind of like polar opposites, like Mal and Uma’s are. ”

“Polar opposites, huh?” Uma shot the purple haired girl a side look with a roguish smirk, which was reciprocated.  
  
“Well now that you mention it, I do get travel-sick on planes,” the Earth Guardian revealed with a nonchalant shrug.

And so that wrapped the flying lesson. Moving on to actual training, for the next hour or so, each girl went on with the exploration of their abilities.

Mal remained by the building and spent most of her time throwing fire projectiles of various shapes and sizes, using the graffiti as improvised targets. Later on, she went on and set fire to a pile of tires in order to practice her control over actual flames, resulting in a delightful smell of burned rubber.

As she was in need of more open space with her magic, Jane distanced herself from her friends to ensure that she wouldn’t hit them with the objects she was making fly around her – while flying herself – in a real aerial ballet. While doing so, she found out that she could make a direct use of the air she exhaled and had her little fun blowing out air blasts and creating small tornados with her breath.

Due to the lack of visible water in the place, Uma worked with air humidity and underground water. The way she moved her arms made it look like she was dancing while she manipulated small bodies of water. She discovered her ability to solidify the liquid by altering its pressure, and thus making her water projectiles and her water whip (her new favorite weapon) a lot more efficient.

For the most part, Evie closely studied the pink force fields she had previously been able to conjure to attack, to eventually come to the conclusion that it looked and felt a lot like electrical energy. Like Mal, she used the nearby tires as targets as she aimed to knock them off the piles one by one, both on the ground and in the air as she gave her wings another chance to prove themselves.

And then there was Audrey. On the other hand, she was the only one who wasn’t really trying. Sitting straight on yet another piece of stone, her weary gaze went from her fellow Guardians’ training, to her feet by which she had grown tiny patches of immaculate white daisies through the cracks in the concrete. With a heavy sigh, the Earth Guardian picked up a nearby rock and crushed it in her fist as easily as if it was made of sand.

Eventually, Uma noticed her friend’s mood and stopped what she was doing to make her way to her. “You’re not putting much effort into it princess. What’s on your mind?”

“I just don’t get it,” Audrey stated like she had been dying to say this all along.  
  
“You’re not still doubting that it’s real, are you?” Mal came closer as well, with a quirked eyebrow.

Audrey shook her head. “No, I… As nonsensical as it sounds, I get that we can do magic. I mean I can _see_ it. But my question is why?”

“Um… because we’re the new Guardians of the Veil?” Jane responded carefully.  
  
“Yeah, thanks for that Captain Obvious.” Audrey rolled her eyes. “But why us? Why not five other girls?”

Uma flipped her teal braids sassily. “I believe it’s because we’re much cuter, and also a lot smarter, and—”

“Now isn’t the time to be joking, Uma.” Audrey scolded the Water Guardian with a displeased scowl. “You do realize our whole lives have changed, right? Nothing will _never_ be the same, and worse, someone has made that decision for us!”  
  
“And you’re absolutely right. But what can I tell you. We only know the same things you know,” Evie said apologetically.  
  
“So that precious little Heart of yours doesn’t hold all the answers huh? How unfortunate.” Audrey scoffed sarcastically before sighing deeply. “I wish Grammy was here.”

A short silence followed. Though not all for the same reasons, they all did miss Audrey’s grandmother and the insight she could’ve provided. The sorrowful memories of the funeral were still pretty fresh in their minds.

“Well, I’m sure we can get something out of the book we found in Melody’s house,” Jane softly said in an attempt to divert the direction of the conversation.  
  
“Wrong, Jane. That book is just another one of our problems.” Audrey rolled her eyes again.  
  
“Any luck with it by the way?” Mal asked the Air Guardian.  
  
“None. This thing done had me crawling all over the place like a maniac. I tried everything I could think of but it won’t open.”  
  
“Have you tried using your powers?” Evie questioned.

Jane perked up like she was given the idea of the century. “You know what, I actually haven’t thought of that.”

She ran to where she had left her backpack to retrieve the leather volume.

“Wanna try together?” Evie said. “It worked to close the first portal, maybe it’ll work again.”

Jane placed the book on the ground and, following Evie’s lead, put her hand on the edge of it. Mal and Uma also dropped to their knees and joined in.

“Audrey?” Evie called, gently urging the lighter brunette to imitate them.

It was reluctant but the girl finally put her hand on the cover. Indeed they could all feel it, the magical aura that coated it. The strange sensation of dizziness that Evie had experienced multiple times before came back to her and she was starting to understand why she felt that way. What they were dealing with here was dark magic, Metaworld magic, the polar opposite of _her_ source of power. Whatever guarded the book, it was resisting. But the Heart Guardian knew, it couldn’t be stronger than her and her friends’ joined forces.

All the noises, from the echoing uproar of the city in a distance, to the birds singing, to the wind hissing, gradually faded away until only silence, a silence that was eerily unnatural, hung in the air.

“W-where are we?” Mal whispered.

Not at the abandoned factory, that was for sure. Just like the sounds, their surroundings were gone leaving them in the middle of a dark and seemingly empty space. It was impossible for any of them to tell how far it went. The only source of light was the book, which had started glowing… and was finally opening.

In front of their amazed eyes, the covers slowly spread open revealing the contents of the book. On the right page, a dark symbol that Evie immediately recognized like the one that was drawn on the floor of the corridor under Melody’s house. The one that looked like the sharper and more sombre version of the Heart of Kandrakar. And on the left page, written down in dark green ink, an incomprehensible scribbling.

“Gosh, what kind of language is that?” Uma pointed it out.  
  
“Well that sure is helpful,” Audrey scoffed, sarcasm pretty efficiently concealing an underlying tone of fright.

Mal raised a hand. “Wait. The letters, the words, they’re weird but I think I can—” She suddenly gasped and widened her eyes. “Oh my God did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Jane frantically looked around for any sign of another presence. There was nothing else to be heard, beside their own voices.  
  
“That voice that’s talking,” Mal insisted. “It keeps on repeating that word, ‘Phobos’.”  
  
“Never heard that in my life,” Uma said.  
  
“Wait it’s saying something else… ‘ _In the name of the Almighty Prince of Metaworld. He who holds the Power, He who owns the night. Bow before His shadow and praise His glory_ ’,” Mal recited as if, in fact, someone was whispering those very words in her ear. “‘ _The Seal of Prince Phobos_ ’… That must be what this is.” She held her hand out towards the symbol on the page.  
  
“Mal don’t touch it!” Evie cried out.

But she was a second too late. Mal’s fingertips had already come in contact with the glowing paper, which she instantly retracted with a squeal of pain. “Ow, it burns!”

“And you’re the Guardian of Fire? That’s saying someth—”

Jane didn’t get to finish that comment. Mal’s action seemed to have triggered some kind of defense mechanism within the book, causing it to shake and glow more furiously.

“Shit! Mal what did you do?” Uma shouted.  
  
“God, I knew it, I knew it!” Audrey screamed in panic.

 _POW_!!

In a puff of dark gray smoke, the painted symbol materialized as a three dimensional object made of sharp steel, ominous despite its small size. In response to its apparition, the black ground shifted underneath them. It was morphing into some sort of soft and sticky mud that trapped them like quicksand, for the more they tried to free themselves, the deeper and the faster they sank.

“ _AAAAH_!”  
  
“I can’t move!”  
  
“Somebody do _something_!”

The mud easily engulfed them up to their elbows, making any sort of struggle on their part utterly ineffective. Evie could only think of one thing to get them out of here.

_Please, please, help us!_

The Heart of Kandrakar appeared like a ray of sun in the middle of the rainstorm of their horror, rising up into the air to meet the Seal of Phobos. The two relics were as similar as they were different, facing one another in a silent battle, a reunion between old foes. Five beams of white light shone from the Heart, aiming at the five girls’ hearts through the mysterious black mud as though it needed their help to fight the evil force. None of them could move, yet they could all feel their magical energy surging through their bodies as the light of Kandrakar and the darkness of Metaworld surged forward at the same time and collided.

Time seemed to freeze. But as each girl slowly began to regain their senses, feeling the concrete underneath their palms and a cool breeze ruffling their hair, they figured it was all over. They were back on the old factory’s grounds, and in their regular attires. The book, still sitting in the middle of the circle they had formed, was fuming, completely calcinated.

“Holy shit,” was the first thing that was said and it came from a rattled Uma.  
  
“I really thought we were goners,” Jane whimpered before she took a deep, relieving breath.  
  
“ _Ouch_.”  
  
“Mal, you’re hurt.”

Evie crawled towards the blonde and delicately took her hand in hers. Angry red patches crossed the tips of her pale fingers where the book had burned her. She actually wasn’t in much pain, but the kindness she could read in Evie’s worried walnut eyes and the softness of her skin against hers melted her heart in the best of ways.

“It’s okay. It’ll heal, I think.”

Uma stood up to shake the dust out of her clothes and hair. “Well, we might’ve been on the verge of death _once again_ but at least now we know the name of the big boss. Whoever that prince Phobos is, he must be no joke.”

“Yeah. And I’m also convinced there’s a deeper connection between Metaworld and Melody’s house. She has a part in this, somehow, and we can only assume that her parents do, too,” Evie said, still fondly stroking the Fire Guardian’s palm.  
  
“Or maybe the book’s been in the basement long before they even moved in,” Audrey contested.

Her body hadn’t stopped trembling, fingers curled on the ground like she was trying to keep her grip on her sanity by clinging onto the Earth. But her best efforts to hide the tears that were flowing down her cheeks, by keeping her face downward, were vain. Her shivering voice gave it away.

“Audrey, the Seal of Phobos was there,” Evie replied.  
  
“And you saw the way she behaved the last time we saw her.” Jane shed a tear as well. She truly hated that this wasn’t what the girl wanted to hear at all. But despite how bad she herself also wanted it not to be true, the proof was piling up. “She’s definitely involved.”

Even Audrey’s strongest will couldn’t go against the facts. And to her, it was unbearable.

* * *

“Ughhh. Why did I agree to this again?”  
  
“Because you have nothing else to do. And also because you’d do anything for me.”

That wasn’t _entirely_ true. Uma didn’t have anything else to do, _for now_. With the swimming season having officially started the week prior, her practice schedule became more rigorous than it was when she was just in pre-season conditioning (which, she realized, might become a problem considering she was now a Guardian and all that). And while she wasn’t expected at the pool today, she was supposed to hit the gym with her teammates later in the afternoon. Which gave her a good two hours to spare after school ended.

What she had _not_ planned was to spend these two hours going along with Mal’s wacky idea to spy on Mrs. Rudolf on her day off.

It was quite unclear what the blonde was hoping to find by doing that, since she had remained vague every time Uma had asked. But yet here she was, crouching behind the bushes by her math teacher’s house, because despite the secrecy behind the plan she could somehow tell it was important to Mal. And because yes, it was true that she _could_ bring herself to do a _certain amount_ of things for Mal if she asked – though certainly not anything like she claimed – so... yeah.

On her life, she will _never_ tell her that. The Water Guardian rolled her eyes. “In your dreams.” Then she decided to try her luck one more time. “I still don’t get why we’re stalking Mrs. Rudolf at her house.”

Finding said house hadn’t been a difficult task, for one of their classmates once mentioned they lived on the same street. It was a classic two-story, white suburban house with a stone porch and lots of flowers. Her car was parked in the driveway, indicating that the woman was home. And indeed, just about a few minutes ago she had appeared in the girls’ line of sight when she walked by a window. As far as Uma was concerned, she wasn’t doing anything unconventional in there.

“How do we know she’s not a threat?” Mal replied as she peeked above the bush for the umpteenth time.  
  
“A threat for _what_? She’s been in here all afternoon, probably grading tests and giving out a bunch of F’s,” Uma said slightly raising her voice.  
  
“Shhht you’re gonna get us caught.” Mal turned to her with a reproachful frown. “I told you I have a bad feeling about her.”

That was the only explanation that Mal had deigned to give thus far, along with the craziest theory: their math teacher being one of the bad guys. Which, if you asked Uma, made absolutely no sense. Well, of course there was that very common rule that you could never trust someone who decided to dedicate their whole life to math, but that was pretty much where it ended. Mrs. Rudolf was actually not so bad as a person. Yet all of a sudden, Mal seemed to have a bigger issue with the woman.

Except Uma wouldn’t let go so easily this time. “So what? You have bad feelings about tons of people. It doesn’t mean that all of them are creatures from Metaworld.”

Mal twitched beside her and she knew the girl enough to sense that she was getting more and more nervous. In a way, she kind of understood where she was coming from. Melody’s betrayal had certainly caused them to become suspicious of more people, but never without a valid reason.

Right now, a valid reason was what Mal had failed to give her and it was starting to feel like a waste of time. Time that she didn’t really have.

“Mal, _why_ am I here?” Uma insisted, crossing her arms resolutely.

Mal’s lips pursed. It took a couple seconds but eventually, she gave in. “Fine! You know about Evie’s tutoring session, right?”

_Ah._

Yes, Uma knew about that. One of the reasons why Mrs. Rudolf was appreciated among the student body was that she sometimes took some of her free time to help those she deemed in need, by giving tutoring classes. For Evie, intelligent as she was, it was because of algebra and the homework she had failed to return twice in the past weeks. Assuming that the girl was still adjusting to her new life in a new city, instead of penalizing her, Mrs. Rudolf offered her a couple of tutoring sessions. In her own home.

And Uma was _finally_ beginning to understand what this was all about.

“I should’ve known your girlfriend was involved,” she huffed with a playful smirk.  
  
“Shut up, she’s not my girlfriend,” Mal argued very fast.  
  
“But you wish she was, don’t you?”

Good heavens, teasing her was always _such_ a fun thing to do. The blonde’s face had become as red as a tomato, burning like the fire that lied inside her.

“I-I… This isn’t the time for this. Evie told me she always felt weird whenever Mrs. Rudolf asks her questions in class. You know, the ‘monsters are around’ type of weird.”  
  
“Maybe it’s because her smart ass somehow sucks at math and she gets nervous.”

Mal rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I just wanna make sure that it’s safe for her to come here. And I took you because you’re the only one who knows I like her.”

“…for now.” Uma feigned looking at her nails, smirking harder than ever.  
  
“You will not—”  
  
“I’m really flattered though.”  
  
“I didn’t want you to know.”  
  
“Your ass shoulda been less obvious then.”  
  
“You’re infuriating.”  
  
“Thank you. So what you planning to do now? Clearly the woman isn’t leaving her house.”  
  
“Sure about that?” Mal nodded towards the building.

As if by chance, just as she spoke, Mrs. Rudolf had gone out and headed towards her car, undoubtedly on the go. Mal grabbed Uma’s arm and pulled her further into their hiding spot, making sure that they remained out of sight until the car took the first turn and disappeared.

Mal jumped up and ran towards the house. “Come on.”

“You’re not—hey wait up!” Uma jogged to catch up. Mal was already by the front door, pulling bobby pins out of her pocket. “Are you serious?”  
  
“It shouldn’t be more difficult than picking the lock of my bike.”

Uma let out a long groan. Two weeks ago Mal was reluctant at the idea of going into a house that was _unlocked,_ talking about trespassing being illegal and whatnot, and now she was deadass breaking into their teacher’s house? The brown skinned girl swore love made people do the stupidest things.

For real, she had never seen Mal take that kind of risk for anybody before.

But thankfully, she on the other hand could still think straight.

“Or we could use this,” she told the blonde while handing her a key.  
  
“Where’d you get that?” Mal’s brows furrowed in slight confusion.  
  
“Some people have the weird tendency to leave spare keys under their flower pots.”

Uma tried to act as casual as she could while opening the front door. Like she always said, the best way not to get noticed while doing something you’re not supposed to do is to not try to hide that you’re doing it. In other words, while breaking into a stranger’s house, act like you were invited.

“There,” she said as she pushed the door open. “I’ll put it back. You go find another way to get me in.”

That was the moment when Uma genuinely prayed that the neighbors were minding their own business. At first glance, there was no one around but you could never be safe from a noisy neighbor lurking by their kitchen window. She locked the door, neatly put the key back under the pot and by the time she was done, Mal had texted and said to go through the back door.

“Damn. You know, you’re actually smart sometimes,” the Fire Guardian told her when she got inside.  
  
“I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear that.” Uma sighed. “We don’t have much time. What exactly are we looking for? This looks like a regular kitchen to me.”

A nice, clean, regular kitchen, where the smell of the roast beef that the woman had for lunch still lingered in the air. And Mal, suddenly, didn’t seem so assured.

“I… don’t know. Let’s just look around.”

First in the kitchen, then the dining room, entrance and living room, the ‘investigation’ actually turned out to be quite a challenge since one, they agreed that they wouldn’t touch anything, and two, well, they had no clue what they were searching for. Moving on to the first floor where Mrs. Rudolf’s bedroom was, Mal was tempted to open an old chest that she found suspicious when…

“ _Fuck_!” Uma cried out from the office at the other end of the hallway.  
  
“Did you find something?” Mal smiled widely, hopeful.

Uma burst into the bedroom, panicked. “No, but somebody’s gonna find us soon. Don’t you hear? She’s coming back!”

The thumbing sound of a car door shutting close was heard nearby, causing Mal to throw a discreet glance out the window to see that indeed, Mrs. Rudolf was in the driveway, pulling a couple of grocery bags out of her trunk.

“Shit. Shit, shit, shit! Who shops that fast?”  
  
“Are you happy now? I _knew_ it was a stupid idea!” Uma barked as they both ran down the stairs.  
  
“Can you stop screaming at me? I’m trying to think!”  
  
“Well think _faster_!”

They were trapped and they knew it. There was no way they could make it to the back door in the kitchen without getting caught first. The only solution was to hide until the coast was clear. But where?

“Here!” Mal opened a storage closet under the staircase.

They managed within a hair’s breadth to close the door before they heard the clicking of the keys in the lock, leaving just a narrow crack so Mal could still see what was going on outside.

“I swear to God Imma whoop your ass when we get out of here,” Uma whispered angrily.

In the living room, Mrs. Rudolf released a long, relieved whine as she put her things down. “Oh Jesus, I have to do something about my back.”

“So this is your big bad Metaworld monster? An old lady with back pain?”  
  
“Shhhh, she’s taking her phone,” Mal scolded.  
  
“Yeah, probably to invite her monster friends to have a tea party.” Uma scoffed.  
  
“Goddamn it Uma, if you don’t shut the fuck up I’ll set you on fire.”  
  
“Hi, Nathalie,” Mrs. Rudolf said over the phone. “I’m doing just fine, how about you?... Well, about that. I forgot to tell you that I won’t be joining you guys this afternoon… I know, I’m sorry. I scheduled a tutoring session with one of my students.”

Mal gasped. “She’s talking about Evie.”

“Yeah I figured.”  
  
“No, she needs it. But I’ll be there next week for sure…” their math teacher continued. “Thanks for understanding… Of course, I’ll see you soon. Bye.”

Mal was pressing her face so hard against the door that it looked like she was trying to squeeze her entire head through the tiny opening.

“These shoes are killing me.”

From her spot, Uma only heard faint cracking noises that she couldn’t quite decipher, but what Mal saw made her clasp her hand to her mouth, her emerald eyes growing wide.

“Holy shit…”  
  
“What? What’s going on?” the Water Guardian rushed forward to get a better look.  
  
“M-Mrs. Rudolf… sh-she’s—”

More weird cracking and snapping sounds on the other side of the door, as well as low grunts from the woman there. Something odd was definitely happening and Uma didn’t know what. Mal sure looked like she saw a ghost, or turning into one, colors gradually leaving her face and Uma saw her eyes roll back for a split second.

“U-Uma, I think I’m—I’m gonna pa-pass out…”  
  
“Uh-uh. Don’t you do that. Mal—”

Too late. The blonde had fallen backwards unconscious, right against her friend which caused her to lose balance and fall down, her back hitting a box full of cleaning supplies with a thump. And now, now she was freaking out. And didn’t care much if they were caught.

“No-no-no-no wake up.” She shook Mal by the shoulders in hopes to get her to move, only for her heart to race in fear when it didn’t happen. “Oh my God Mal please, open your eyes. Mal!”

Then, the door swung open. “Well, what an unexpected surprise. What are you girls doing here?”

Uma thought she might lose her shit, seeing her interlocutor. She wanted to scream, too. But no sound could leave her mouth, blocked by pure fright, as she kneeled on the floor clinging to Mal’s body like her life depended on it.

Orangey skin covered in scales. Brown dreadlocks. Long, dangling ears. Blood red protruding eyes. A long, thick, reptile-like tail. Were the last things she saw before she, too, fell into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a whileee y'all. I hope you didn't think I had given up on this story. I haven't. I just faced THEE biggest case of writer's block everrrrr. Ugh. 
> 
> So I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter hehe. What do you think? What kind of trouble did Mal and Uma get themselves into? What will happen to them? Leave a comment!
> 
> Also, that Jay/Evie interaction was short but necessary for future chapters ;)
> 
> I'll see you guys next chapter  
> Xoxo
> 
> PS: wear a mask. And don't be like Mal and Uma. Breaking into people's houses is actually bad.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! How's everybody doing? Better than me I hope.
> 
> Anyway. Remember how Mal and Uma got caught snooping around last chapter? This is what goes next.
> 
> :)

“Your math teacher’s gonna tutor you? At her _house_?”  
  
“Yeah, apparently she does that all the time.”  
  
“First of all, how come you even need a tutoring session? You’re like the smartest bitch I know.”

Evie laughed wholeheartedly at that. _If only she knew_. On her way to Mrs. Rudolf’s house, she had decided to call Sofia with hopes that she had some time for her. She had promised herself when she left Fadden Hills that she would try not to hold on to too many things related to that part of her life to spare herself the sorrow of moving, but it was an impossible thing to do when it came to her childhood best friend. Most of her good memories from her early years were linked to her and Evie missed her, terribly.

The reason why they didn’t speak on the phone so often was the exact same for the both of them: they both had new time-consuming activities that kept them very busy with a new squad of girlfriends. Except that for Sofia, it had meant making it to the cheerleading team. For Evie, well... And while she was delighted to hear about that new part of her friend’s life, it saddened her that she couldn’t just tell her everything about her own. They had a rule of never keeping secrets from each other and the brunette hated having to keep one that huge. Like, they literally used to dream about being forest fairies a few years back. She could only imagine Sofia’s thrill upon hearing about Kandrakar, her powers and all the cool things she could now do – although maybe not so thrilled about the responsibilities and the danger that came with it – and she _wanted_ to tell her, more than anything.

And at that moment, she was glad that Sofia wasn’t here to see the guilt on her face as she purposefully remained silent about the real factor behind the reason why she even needed tutoring.

“Algebra’s been kicking my ass lately, pretty sure you can relate,” she joked to play it off. “I can use the help. Plus it’s free so I’m not going to complain about it.”  
  
“Well girl, you do you. I know I wouldn’t set a foot in creepy Arnold’s house even if my life depended on it. He still does that thing with pens, you know when he uses them to—”  
  
“Ew ew _eww_ , fucking gross,” Evie shrieked into the phone as she reminisced her former teacher, causing Sofia to burst out laughing. “Why did you have to remind me of that?”  
  
“Just sharing my pain. You’ve been comfortable without him for too long,” the other girl snorted, struggling to catch her breath.  
  
“Yeah, didn’t have to.” Evie rolled her eyes. “Speaking of pain, how’s your shoulder?”

They kept talking until she stepped to the driveway of Mrs. Rudolf’s house. The woman’s car was parked just in front, yet she still double checked the address to make sure it was the right place. 3:52pm. Right on time. She took a deep breath, reluctantly interrupting Sofia who had been telling her about the precautions she had to take during cheer practice due to a past shoulder injury.

“Sof, I’m sorry, I gotta go. I’ll text you when I’m done, okay?”  
  
“Aww alright,” Sofia said and Evie pictured the other girl’s pout. “Good luck. I really miss you.”

A bittersweet smile traced the brunette’s lips. “I miss you like crazy too. And I love you.”

“I love you, too. Bye.”

After hanging up, Evie stayed motionless on the porch for what seemed like a good five minutes. She was feeling a little nervous, not because of the tutoring session per se but at the mere idea of entering Mrs. Rudolf’s privacy. When it came to school staff, she preferred to maintain the separation between job and person and liked it best when interactions only occurred at school. Back in her old town, well, it was small so she was never really safe from an impromptu encounter with a teacher at the grocery store, at the park or at the movies. Here it was different, and she was glad that she hadn’t run into any of them outside of school thus far. Yet here she was, about to ring the doorbell of her math teacher’s home.

She anxiously tapped her foot on the wooden floor as she waited for Mrs. Rudolf to open the door. And when she did, she had the widest smile on her face. “Hello, Evie. Come on in.”

She stepped aside to let the younger girl get in then led her into her living room. Evie instantly scanned the interior. Walls and curtains in tones from cream to darker beige, furniture that didn’t look that old but wasn’t new either, framed painted landscapes on the walls, different kinds of flowers in patterned vases, very clean, it certainly wasn’t atypical for a sixty-ish years old woman living in the suburbs.

“Did you have any trouble getting here?” Mrs. Rudolf asked.  
  
“None, thanks. It’s, uh, you have a lovely home, Mrs. Rudolf,” Evie responded, not knowing what else to say.  
  
“Thank you dear,” the woman said. “Well, we have some polynomials to untangle, don’t we? Are you ready?”

Evie smiled awkwardly. “I guess so.”

“Let’s settle at the dining table.”  
  
“Alright.”  
  
“Before we start, I was about to get some lime-blossom and verbena from the garden to make tea. Would you like some?”  
  
“That would be nice, thank you.”

Evie sat at the table with her back straight and took a couple of deep breaths. Yup, that felt weird. She doubted a cup of tea could calm her nerves but it was worth a shot. And homemade so really, why not. Soon she’d be able to blame her uneasiness on those damned polynomials. By the way, maybe she should pull out her books while she waited and—

“ _E? Evie, can you hear me?_ ”

Walnut eyes widened in great surprise perceiving that voice… inside her head. Any other time, she probably would’ve thought she had gone insane. There was only one person, other than herself, that she knew she could talk to that way and she wasn’t sure how she could make it make sense right now.

“Mal?” the girl whispered to herself, utterly confused, before switching from voice to thoughts. “ _M? Is that you?_ ”  
  
“ _Yes! Holy sweet hell, you’re finally here!_ ” the blonde’s voice resonated in her mind, sounding relieved.  
  
“ _How come you can talk to me when I’m all the way to Mrs. Rudolf’s? Have you been practicing your telepathy?_ ”

Because if so, she had progressed tremendously and extremely fast. The back door opened again to let her teacher back in, and she flashed a fond smile at Evie.

“ _Because I’m also at Mrs. Rudolf’s,_ ” Mal revealed.

Evie frowned in disbelief. “ _What—_ "

“ _Where is she?_ ” Mal exclaimed.

The brunette didn’t quite know what to make of this conversation. Even in her head, she sensed the alarm in Mal’s voice and she felt herself starting to worry as well. What was that all about? She caught a glimpse of the older woman washing the freshly cut herbs at the sink while humming an old song.

“ _In the kitchen making tea. Why?_ ”  
  
“ _Don’t take anything from her. She can’t be trusted E, she lured you into a trap!_ ” Mal said in a single mental breath.

This left Evie more stumped than ever before. “ _What, why? What happened? Where are you? Are you okay?_ ”

“ _Looks like a basement. Uma’s here too. She’s unconscious but yeah we’re fine. We’re tied up though, you need to find a way to get us out!_ ”

The girl’s heart pounded wildly in her chest, breath catching in her throat in complete shock at the news. Mal and Uma tied up in the basement? Uma unconscious? Now. She knew the two were pranksters but there was no way they would joke about something like that, was there? Not with everything that had already happened to them. Was Mrs. Rudolf, the sweetest math teacher she had ever had, _really_ capable of that? She couldn’t exactly take the time to debate if her friends needed help.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she thought of a way to buy herself some time. “Mrs. Rudolf? Can I use the bathroom?”

“Of course. Right up the stairs, second door on your left.”

Evie headed there, climbed a couple of stairs then went back down to make it sound like she had gone all the way up. Now, a basement.

She hoped that the connection hadn’t broken already. “ _What are you bound with?_ ”

“ _Feels like ropes,_ ” Mal responded.  
  
“ _Can’t you burn them?_ ”

The Fire Guardian took a moment before answering, unassured, “ _I thought of it but I… I can’t. My hands are tied behind my back with Uma’s and I’m afraid I’ll burn her if I can’t see what I’m doing._ ”

A sigh slipped past Evie’s lips. She could try to encourage her but Mal wouldn’t do it. Because the blonde was rather clumsy, she lacked a little self-confidence when it came to using her powers. She feared that she might set her house on fire in her sleep or accidently burn someone to death if she tripped over her own feet. During their training or whenever her friends were near, the flames she produced were ninety-nine percent of the time not hot.

Evie would have to free them herself. There weren’t that many rooms on this side of the house. She found a small storage closet, an actual closet, a toilet room, and… then, she understood why Mrs. Rudolf had sent her upstairs instead. Right by that very door was another one, and it was heavily padlocked. _That must be it_. She pressed her ear against it and gave a soft, careful knock hoping that Mal would hear it if she really was in here.

“ _Was that you?_ ” the Fire Guardian blurted out like she had just jumped.

Evie almost screamed of relief out loud. “ _Yes. There’s a massive lock on the door._ ”

“ _Shit, she must keep the key with her,_ ” Mal sighed. “ _Uma’s waking u—_ ”

Evie cursed in frustration. Their mental line had gone dead. At least she had found them. And indeed, if she listened closely, she could hear faint, muffled groans from the other side of the door. _I’ll find something M, I promise_ , she still thought, though about a hundred percent sure the blonde wouldn’t get that.

But fuck, how the hell was she supposed to find a key in that house. And if Mrs. Rudolf had it with her… She was running out of time. She wondered if the Heart of Kandrakar’s powers would be efficient for this.

“Evie, are you alright dear?” Mrs. Rudolf’s voice suddenly called, getting louder with approaching footsteps. “Do you take any milk or sugar in—” The woman stopped in her tracks seeing Evie by the basement door. “Oh, God, no.”

Evie straightened up and faced her teacher, the look of being caught red-handed mirrored between the two of them. And then it hit her like a hammer. Her vision blurring, the familiar dizziness. The confirmation of Mal’s warnings, that something or most likely _someone_ in this house was actively related to Metaworld magic. Thankfully, she was also learning to power through it and forced her senses back into herself. Now, this could go one way or the other. She could wait for the strike and let herself get caught, that way she’d perhaps be taken to the basement with Mal and Uma (unlikely). Or, she could do the striking herself and force the location of the key out of Mrs. Rudolf, but weirdly enough, she didn’t want to have to hurt her. However, she also knew she wouldn’t hesitate if the woman tried anything funny. Since Mrs. Rudolf still wasn’t making any move towards her, she decided to go for something else.

“I need you to open that door,” Evie ordered, as intimidatingly as she could, pointing her finger to the lock.  
  
“It’s—”  
  
“I won’t repeat myself, Mrs. Rudolf. Open it, _now_.”

She could feel the Heart’s essence pulse in her veins, ready to pop out through her fingertips. But surprisingly, for someone who was apparently trying to capture her, Mrs. Rudolf showed very little resistance to her request. It even seemed like she was genuinely afraid of the young Guardian. When she pulled a small key out of the pocket of her orange wool cardigan, her hand was shaking, and so was her voice as she spoke weakly.

“Before you jump to conclusions when you see what’s in there, please let me explain—” she said when the lock clicked open.  
  
“I know _who_ ’s in there,” Evie interrupted coldly, taking advantage of the woman’s fright but still on her guard. “Get out of my way.”

She pushed past her and ran down the stairs, not caring if Mrs. Rudolf locked the door behind her. If she did, Evie trusted her and her friends’ combined powers would be enough to break it. And Mal and Uma were there indeed, in a corner of the small, dark room. Back to back, hands tightly tied together like Mal had said, muzzled by cloths, and legs bound by more ropes.

“Holy shit,” she whispered at the awful sight.

Evie started by uncovering their faces before she tackled the ropes between their backs.

“Ugh. So happy you found us. But I’m so going to drown this bitch,” Uma grunted at the woman who was slowly coming down the stairs.  
  
“Please, girls…”  
  
“Don’t come any closer!” Reflexively, Evie’s left arm stretched to the side and a pink force field suddenly appeared in front of Mrs. Rudolf, acting as a shield between her and the girls. This made her lose her balance and she tripped on the stairs before falling backwards.

With the teacher temporarily rendered harmless, the brunette returned her attention to Mal and Uma’s restraints. It was a very well done knot but years of practice untangling tiny chains and necklaces were about to pay off. “What are you guys even doing here?” she asked.

Uma scoffed like she wanted to answer but only shook her head and said nothing.

“It’s a long story and it doesn’t matter.” Mal furrowed her brows, wiggling her arms as she felt the ropes starting to loosen. “All you need to know is that Mrs. Rudolf’s been fucking lying to us.”  
  
“Look for yourself,” Uma said.

The shrill scream that came from Evie’s throat wasn’t pretty. But it was the only possible reaction seeing what she was seeing. Instead of an elder woman, on the stairs, there was a chubby lizard-like creature with orange scales, a long, thick tail and a round head full of shoulder length dark brown dreadlocks. Coming from the sides of their head were long and thin ears that mingled with the hair. And the eyes. They were red like blood.

“Please…” Their voice – Mrs. Rudolf’s voice – was low and trembling. “It’s t-true that I have hidden m-my true form b-but I’m not—”  
  
“What the fuck!” Evie shouted in shock. “Who are you? Where’s Mrs. Rudolf?”  
  
“That’s her! You can bet your ass that _monster_ ’s been teaching us math this whole time,” Uma spat angrily.

Now that their hands were free, both girls hastened to unbind their legs while Evie stood to face what their teacher had transformed into. She couldn’t believe it. She was so appalled she couldn’t even attack. But would that be even necessary though, Mrs. Rudolf was clearly scared shitless, backing away from them.

“I swear this is not what it looks like, girls. I’m no threat to you. I’m not here to hurt you,”  
  
“Hard to believe when you didn’t hesitate one second to bind and gag us and locked us in your basement,” Mal, standing up at last, said with clenched fists.  
  
“I-I merely panicked seeing you here… I know about the relic that you protect and how powerful you Guardians are. I wouldn’t have stood a chance.”  
  
“Enough talking, let’s take her out.” Uma rose to her feet as well and instantly rushed past the other girls and towards Mrs. Rudolf.  
  
“No, you don’t understand!” she cried out as she fled the room.  
  
“Come on we can’t let her escape!” Mal took off too and Evie followed.

Despite the corpulence of her new form, Mrs. Rudolf moved extraordinarily fast and managed to keep one good step ahead of the three of them as they chased her up to the first floor. At the end of the hallway, she pulled the string of a trap door on the ceiling, opening access to the attic. A ladder fell down and she climbed it up with astonishing agility. The process was slower for Uma, Mal and Evie and by the time they all made it up there, Mrs. Rudolf was at the far end of the attic, hands on the wall.

“I never thought I’d be going back,” she said.

With a loud _whoosh_ sound, a part of the wall vanished to reveal a large whirl of icy blue colored fire.

A portal.

And Mrs. Rudolf already had one leg past the first ring of fire. With an expression that could only be qualified as distressed, she looked over at the trio one last time. “Goodbye, girls.”

With that, she went deeper into the inflamed passage.

“Great. What now?” Uma groaned.  
  
“Well, she’s gone but we need to close this,” Evie declared.

Thoughts ran faster than words, and Evie’s answer came out magically. Just like the Heart of Kandrakar decided it for her. Now in their Guardian forms, the three girls approached the portal.

“Have you guys done this before? Because I know I haven’t.” Mal shot her two friends a worried side glance.  
  
“Just focus your energy on it and it’ll work,” Evie said, raising her hands in front of her, the Heart in between them. “On my mark.”

Mal only nodded and did the same, so did Uma.

“Now!”

Because they were more experienced now, closing this portal was faster and easier than that day in the school gym. Once it was done though, neither Mal, Uma or Evie relished in any feeling of accomplishment for they couldn’t quite wrap their heads around the fact that they didn’t understand what Mrs. Rudolf’s deal was. The only other being that they had met from Metaworld so far had tried to annihilate them, twice, which had caused them to assume that every Metaworld creature was the enemy. But then, Mrs. Rudolf’s behavior confused them at the highest point. She couldn’t be an evil brute like Vathek running away in fear like that.

So, what had her purpose been, living incognito among humans for God knew how long? Had she been on some kind of mission? Was she sent to this world to spy on _them_?

Add that to the long list of questions they didn’t have answers to.

“We gotta tell the girls,” Mal finally spoke.  
  
“We need to meet the others ASAP,” Evie said at the same time.

The Heart and Fire Guardians shared a look for what felt longer than necessary, or at least it did for Uma whose eyes (yet again) flickered between the two of them, peeping how Mal was already blushing underneath her purple locks. Evie eventually smiled, Mal smiled back, and Uma grimaced in spite of herself.

“I agree but make it tomorrow.” The brown skinned girl sighed with a roll of her eyes. “I gotta help my mom at the restaurant straight after practice _which_ I’m almost late for.”

* * *

The meeting indeed took place the next day. After Uma came back from her traditional Saturday morning swim, the girls met at the latter’s place where they had no chance to be overheard since her mother was busy in the restaurant. It was lunchtime which meant that the place was almost fully packed with customers, and Ursula had only agreed not to make her daughter work again was because Uma had managed to convince her that they had an important school project to work on. They were even allowed to order stuff from the menu for themselves before securing their privacy by heading to the cozy apartment where the Water Guardian and her mother lived, right upstairs.

Ursula’s joint was well known around this part of town for her fine take on Southern Louisiana cuisine (especially the seafood) and while they all thoroughly enjoyed their meals, Mal, Evie and Uma hadn’t been able to wait until they were finished eating to address the most recent events. Thankfully, the remaining two were too astounded to comment on the fact that Mal and Uma had gone to Mrs. Rudolf’s house to begin with.

“ _What_?” The fried shrimp Jane was bringing into her mouth fell back on the plate as the girl’s jaw dropped. “Mrs. Rudolf is from Metaworld?”  
  
“God damn it, is there even somebody that we can truly trust? Who’s next, the lunch lady? Our parents?” Audrey tossed her fork in her plate in frustration. She suddenly didn’t have that much appetite for the vegetarian jambalaya she had been feasting on.  
  
“At this point I wouldn’t even be surprised if Ms. Knickerbocker was a monster too,” Mal said while she toyed with the few remaining grains of rice in her empty bowl of gumbo.  
  
“A-a-and she just ran away?” Jane stammered from shock. She could _not_ believe this.  
  
“Yep. There’s no way to know what her intentions were all along,” Evie answered, taking another fry from the Cajun seafood platter she and Uma had been sharing.  
  
“If she was after us then she chickened out pretty quickly,” Mal added.  
  
“Well maybe she wasn’t after us.” Evie shrugged.  
  
“Then why did she treat Uma and I like prisoners?”  
  
“Maybe it’s like she said, maybe she _was_ afraid of us. I mean you saw like me how freaked out she was in the end.”

The blonde only groaned, crossing her arms over her chest.

“It did show us that the situation is more serious than we thought. Metaworld creatures are all around us, they know who we are and since we don’t know what they want... I know I said this before but we need to be extra careful and keep our eyes open. At. All. Times.” Evie clapped her hands in synch with those last three words.

Mal sighed, eyes closed, rubbing the outer ends of her left eyebrow. “Gosh I feel like the whole city is cursed.”

“And _I_ am going to say this once: this is getting out of hand,” Audrey chimed in sharply. “We need to find a way to get some answers.”  
  
“What do you suggest?” Jane asked.  
  
“Let’s brainstorm. Maybe it’ll start to make some sense. What do we have so far?”  
  
“Some folks from a place in the middle of infinity made us magicians and now we gotta protect the barrier between us and another reality,” Mal started.  
  
“God, that alone sounds completely nuts.” The Earth Guardian shook her head. “But yeah, Kandrakar, Metaworld, the Veil…”  
  
“That creepy voice in the gym said they wanted to take over our world,” Evie recalled.  
  
“Melody also said something along those lines,” Jane pointed out.  
  
“Guys, what if Melody is also a Metaworld creature in disguise?” Mal’s emerald eyes widened as she gasped.  
  
“Don’t you dare say that. I refuse to believe that.” Audrey glared at her harshly.  
  
“Sorry princess but it could—”  
  
“ _No_!”

Evie quickly asked a question of her own to ease the exchange, “Speaking of disguises, do you think that means every Metaworld being can do magic?”

“That would _suck_ ,” Jane remarked with a grimace.

Mal nodded. “Totally. But Mrs. Rudolf said she knew we were more powerful than her. Maybe her powers are limited.”

“To illusion. To change her appearance and she also hid a portal in her attic,” Evie hypothesized.  
  
“And then we have this.”

Audrey unfolded her grandmother’s map at the center of the table. There were now three dark spots on it: their school, Melody’s house, and the newest addition, Mrs. Rudolf’s.

“Right.” Mal scoffed. “A map that only gives us directions to the portals when we already found them.”  
  
“I’m sure it’s useful if Grammy gave it to me!”  
  
“Uma, hon, are you alright? You’re disturbingly quiet,” Jane finally noticed the lack of sass and snark in the discussion.

The brown skinned girl indeed hadn’t said much since they had gotten to the restaurant, which was rather unusual. Even earlier, she had let Mal and Evie do most of the talking whilst she nibbled small pieces of her food, only humming in agreement from time to time. With the look of someone who was lost in her thoughts, her face was arranged into a light scowl, ebony eyes staring in a distance, and she was absently shredding a paper napkin into tiny bits.

“What?” she said once she realized everyone was staring at her. It made her face grow warm. “Yeah I’m fine. Sorry.” She cleared her throat. “I say what we need now is more training. We could be attacked anytime by anyone so we need to be at our best.”

Despite the accuracy of the statement, the other girls all wanted to question her on what was bothering her and Uma sensed it. She wasn’t really in the mood to give them an explanation as of yet though, so she hoped they would get back to the main topic sooner than later. Which they did, to her relief. Audrey and Jane held her gaze for a few more seconds before turning away, but Mal didn’t.

“You ain’t trying to read my mind now, are you?” Uma’s eyebrows knitted.

The news of her being a telepath had also shaken the tables. It was unanimously declared the coolest out-of-element power, surpassing Evie’s technopathy and Uma’s ability of minor mind inducement that she had only used on the teachers thus far, although they now lowkey feared that their secrets might no longer be safe.

“Of course not. You’d see my eyes glow if I were,” the blonde said in a soft tone. Whether it was on purpose or not, she missed her cue to send out a smug clap back.  
  
“Well Uma has a point, about the training” Evie said at last. “We should— _Woah_ hold on.”

She raised her hand and opened her fist like she had been burned, to reveal the Heart of Kandrakar.

“Evie, for goodness sake, you can’t just whip out that thing whenever you feel like it. Uma’s mom could come up here any minute,” Audrey scolded the darker brunette, whisper-yelling through clenched teeth.  
  
“I might be the one keeping it, Audrey, but the Heart’s alive nonetheless. It requested to come out.”

Glowing a furious white, the little jewel left Evie’s palm to glide across the table, towards where the map was in front of Audrey. The light began to pulse as it floated over one particular spot. “Look, it’s… it’s pointing at something.”

Audrey leaned to get a closer look and gasped, “Mel’s house.”

“What does that mean?” Jane whispered.  
  
“I think the message is pretty clear,” Evie replied.

* * *

The grass in front of Melody’s house had grown even taller since they were last there over a week ago, giving the house even more of a spooky abandoned vibe. Audrey insisted to take care of it and forced it to shrink back into the ground, then Uma switched on the automatic sprinkler with a snap of her fingers. The front porch was scattered with the equivalent of nearly a month of unread newspapers. Jane blew out a small burst that swiftly arranged them into a neat pile that Mal burned in a discreet blaze.

“Nope. Still gives me the creeps.” The Fire Guardian looked at their work, clicked her tongue and shook her head, to which Uma gave a low groan of agreement.  
  
“I don’t like it either but the Heart sent us here for a reason.” Evie came next to her, giving her upper arm a light squeeze with the corners of her lips curving into a small smile.

The way Mal shivered then had nothing to do with the house. Neither did the blush.

They penetrated the house, this time heading straight to the basement under the (correct) assumption that it was where they had to go. The hole in the wall was still there and before walking into the dark underground corridor, they pondered whether they should transform or not, not knowing what would be waiting for them there. They decided on the former for extra caution.

With the only noise being the echo of their footsteps that bounced off the thick walls making them sound as loud as drums, the Guardians progressed down the dimly lit corridor. Evie led the group, keeping the Heart of Kandrakar in her hand in case it gave another clue on what they were supposed to find here because at this point, she herself couldn’t figure it out. Chills ran down all of the girls’ spines as they slowly got closer to the place where their last fight had occurred, noticeable because of the pieces of shattered bricks all over the floor. No wall appeared this time around. No monster darted out from the shadows. Everything was quiet. _Too_ quiet.

“Now what?” Audrey let out an annoyed sigh as she put both hands on her hips.  
  
“I don’t know. It’s a little confusing,” Evie admitted sheepishly, walnut eyes still fixed on the glowing Heart.  
  
“‘A little confusing’? _You’re_ the one who said we had to come here.”

Evie chose not to respond to that. Another argument with Audrey was the last thing they would need at the moment. It hadn’t been that easy to detect at first, but as their time as Guardians went by, it was becoming more and more obvious to Evie that the other girl was having issues with her having been put in a position of ‘leadership’ by detaining the Heart of Kandrakar, picking on it every chance she got. Evie didn’t totally blame her for feeling that way. After all, she had only been in Auradon City – and a part of their already solid group – for barely a month yet there she was, entrusted with an object with powers beyond her knowledge and she couldn’t help that she perceived things differently now because of it. She hadn’t exactly asked for it. But they were a team whether they wanted it or not and she certainly didn’t want that kind of weight on her shoulders, even though sometimes it all seemed so… _clear_. Keyword: sometimes.

With everything that had happened lately, Melody, her grandmother’s passing, the magic and everything else, Audrey was emotionally overwhelmed and not in the right state of mind to understand all that.

“Guys, I hear it again!” Mal suddenly cried out, startling the rest of them. “That voice, it’s whispering that same name as before… Phobos.” She spun on herself, searching in every direction to finally settle for Evie’s hands, and pointed a finger forward with a puzzled look on her face. “It’s coming from the Heart.”

Evie’s head shook slowly, swaying her blueberry colored tresses from side to side. “It’s not the Heart.” She paused, sorting her thoughts, and then remembered. “It’s the Seal. The Heart must’ve absorbed it the other day so it’s somewhere inside.”

See, that was the thing. How was she so sure of that? She wasn’t. She just strongly _felt_ it.

“And it gets to stay there!” Jane intervened.  
  
“I _knew_ I sensed a change,” Evie brought the jewel closer to her face to talk to it directly. “So what now? Why did you bring us here?”

For several seconds, nothing changed, but then the Heart twitched in her hands, more and more violently. The light that emanated from it blinked from white to a darker grayish shade at an increasing pace until Evie was compelled to straighten her arms to get the jewel as far from her as she could, as it began to shoot lightning bolts at the wall.

“Holy shit!” Uma shouted, taking a few steps back along with the others.

Under their amazed eyes, the portal that had been in that very space on the wall reopened, looking as fiery and dangerous as it did the week prior.

“Of course.” A large grin drew on Evie’s lips at the sight of the enflamed gape. “The Seal of Phobos must be a key to the other dimension. Not only can we close the portals now, but we can open them too!” She looked to her dumbstruck friends over her shoulder. “Are you guys thinking what I’m thinking?”

They were not, but got to it quick enough.

“Uh uh, no way. We are _not_ going in there.” Audrey vigorously shook her head.  
  
“But think about it. You said we needed answers, and you’re right. The best way to figure out what they want from us is to take the info directly from the source,” the Heart Guardian was in fact more than convinced by that.  
  
“I actually agree with Audrey. What if something happens and we don’t make it back?” Jane said.  
  
“Doubt it. We have the Heart of Kandrakar _and_ the Seal of Phobos. If it helps us in, it’ll most likely help us out.”  
  
“So that’s it? You’re going to pin all our hopes on that?” Audrey retorted in a louder, pointed tone. “What if it breaks? What if you lose it?”

Evie chuckled softly despite the hostility the girl was showing, “Trust me, that can’t happen.”

“Oh, right, because you know everything, huh.”

Uma came forward and put a hand on the Earth Guardian’s shoulder. “Hey, easy princess. Maybe going through isn’t such a bad idea. We could find clues on how to get Melody back.”

Audrey’s lips pursed tightly and Uma didn’t look away from her honey brown orbs, where she could see conflict happening. But even she couldn’t pretend that they had many more options at this point.

And inevitably, it was her love for her best friend that made her cave. “Okay,” she murmured.

Uma granted her a tiny but affectionate smile, then turned to the others. “So, we just jump through the flames?”

“No, we fly,” Jane declared, her keen tone causing the Guardians to glare at her in bewilderment. For someone who was reluctant just five minutes ago, she was displaying an odd, utterly unexpected enthusiasm.  
  
“Oh no. Do we have to?” Audrey whined in protest.  
  
“Everything will be fine, Drey. I’ll hold your hand the whole time. I won’t let you fall, I promise,” Jane replied kindly, then clapped her hands one time. “Alright. Mal, you go first so you can get the fire out of the way as we pass. Audrey and I will go next and then Evie and Uma.”

The crackling of the blue flames was the only response she got, for the other four girls just kept staring at her. Mal looked like she was about to burst out laughing. Even Audrey cracked a little amused smirk. Evie just looked in awe.

“What?” the Air Guardian muttered.  
  
“Nothing, J. We’ll do as you say,” Uma scoffed playfully.

In all fairness, they were all happy whenever she stepped out of her shell, showed confidence and took action. And it indeed sounded like the best solution they had to get through.

“Are you ready?” Evie asked, getting affirmative nods in return. “Then let’s do this.”

The girls got in formation, just like Jane instructed. Mal, at the front, took a deep breath in, wiggling her gloved hands and already trying to pin down the magical blue fire in front of her. Evie and Uma shared an encouraging high five in the back as they warmed up their wings. And, true to her word, Jane seized Audrey’s hand tightly, the lighter brunette tensing even more.

From where they stood, there was no way to see how far the passage stretched. It was just dark at the other end. For all they knew, they could fly for seconds, minutes, hours… But it was decided, they were doing this.

They were going to Metaworld.

How _mad_ was that.

“Okay. Mal, we’re behind you.”  
  
“I feel no pressure at all,” the purple haired girl mumbled.

She was the first to rise from the ground, wings flapping at lightning speed behind her back, quickly followed by the others. Given how her first attempt at flying went, Audrey took a little longer to adjust but since they only were a few inches above the ground, she didn’t feel any sickness. Just nerves, lots of them. She was actually insanely grateful for the firm grip Jane had on her.

Mal raised her hands towards the first ring of flames, feeling it out, only to find that it was nothing out of her league. The fire obeyed promptly, spreading out when her hands did. It gave her a necessary boost of confidence. “Ready when you are.”

And it was then, paced by the coordinated thumping of their five anxious hearts, that the Guardians of Kandrakar crossed the very Veil they were meant to protect and surged, head first, to the place where they were told only evil resided.

The flight turned out to be quite short, a dozen of seconds at most, and pretty uneventful. When they reached the end of the tunnel, it was first very bright, surprisingly so, then considerably dark, and finally they landed back on solid ground.

They’d done it.

And Evie, before she could even get her eyes to get accustomed to the lack of light, felt as though someone was mercilessly shaking her brain from beneath her skull. The dizziness was stronger than ever, the buzzing actually deafening.

No doubt. They were definitely on the other side.

The girl groaned, hands clutching the sides of her head as she stumbled to the side, before she was caught by one of her friends. She couldn’t even tell who.

“Breathe, E, it’s gonna be okay.” Mal’s voice sounded like it echoed from miles away.  
  
“It must be spinning like crazy now that we’re actually in another dimension, doesn’t it.” Uma’s came into the mix, sounding just as distant if not more.

_Breathe. Breathe._

She would be unable to tell how long it took for her to finally be able to stand on her two feet, but after what felt like forever she somehow managed to overcome the blurriness of her vision to take in her surroundings, at last.

The portal had apparently closed on its own after letting them through, and they had ended up in some kind of narrow back alley where trash piled up. The atmosphere felt heavy, the air thick and damp, and a smell of burned charcoal and baking bread mixed with the stench of the rotten crap (and most likely other less pleasing _dead_ things) near their feet. Probably they were behind a bakery of some sort. They moved away carefully, finding themselves in another slightly wider street.

It was hard to get a better look when they wanted, more than anything, to remain out of sight. Especially with their colorful outfits that did _not_ allow them to blend into the picture at all. But it sure felt like they had fallen into one of the medieval villages from one of Jane’s fantasy novels. Roughly. The configuration of the street was strange, to say the least. For starters, it was very twisty. Some of the wooden buildings (that they believed were houses) were at ground level but others were perched on thick columns of stone, some higher than others, reachable by stairs that looked more than questionable bending at odd angles. Some were even embedded in the stone, doors of all shapes being the only visible thing of them.

Some of the edifices were so high they couldn’t see the sky, but from what they had managed to catch a glimpse on, it was gray and covered in thick, gloomy clouds. And the worst was, they felt like this place hadn’t seen the sun in a very, _very_ long time.

“I don’t like this place,” Jane whispered with the feeling like if she spoke any louder everything would collapse.

Bet, she didn’t need verbal responses from her friends to know that they were of the same mind. All previous eagerness and excitement for adventure long gone, they progressed slowly, very close to one another, both relieved and concerned that they weren’t seeing anyone…

… when…

“Ah, Guardians. We’ve been expecting you.”

Turning around to face the source of the icy, hoarse voice, the Guardians didn’t jump because they were met with yet another monster. They were in Metaworld, that was to be expected. No. They jumped because that one was horrendously bigger than the other one they had faced before. Who, by the way, stood close behind, yellow eyes glowing and pointed teeth out in a dreadful rictus. This new monster, however, seemed about two feet taller, had a long, slim head with bright red surrounding white eyes like a masquerade mask and a cascade of silvery blond hair. Had a long blue tunic on, with shoulder pieces that looked like two sharp tortoise shells. Coming down from there, the sleeves of the garment descended onto the floor, hiding where arms would be, and pretty much any other body part except from a long, a _shockingly_ long, green reptile tail that rose high in the air behind them.

But it was the symbol of the Seal of Phobos, printed in white and dark green at the front of both of their clothes, that alerted them the most.

“Who the hell are you?” Evie spoke out.  
  
“Me? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that _you_ finally paid us a visit,” the monster grunted and “smiled”, flashing two rows of white human-like teeth. “And as we are great hosts, we decided to welcome you appropriately, by bringing a friend of yours.”  
  
“The fuck? Gorilla Smurf ain’t our friend,” Uma argued in disgust, which seemed to greatly amuse the other monster.  
  
“Oh, I’m not talking about Vathek.”

Both blue and green skinned creatures moved aside. The black haired – and very human – person that was standing in between them then had a wide smile on her face.

“Melody!” Audrey squeaked.

Similarly to the tallest monster, Melody wore a long, floating light blue dress with long sleeves, and the green symbol at the front. In addition, a short white shawl was draped around her shoulders, the two ends joining at the front with silver buttons. Some of her shiny raven hair was braided with small pearls, and tied at the back of her head while the rest was let loose down her back. She looked very beautiful dressed like that, they couldn’t deny it. It also kind of freaked them out.

“My friends! It’s so good to see you again,” Melody chimed as she approached them.

Uma winced, distrustful, because the last time they had seen her she was everything but friendly. “Why is she so—”

“—cheery?” Mal finished, equally suspicious.

The other girl was totally unfazed, her smile only growing. “I’m just happy that you finally came.”

“Melody, what have they done to you?” Jane asked in a shaking, wary whisper.  
  
“Absolutely nothing, I’m fine. Never been better, actually.”  
  
“Well that’s good, but there’s no way we’re letting you in this horrible place any longer,” Evie said with more conviction. Unable to shake off the dizzying feeling, she herself wouldn’t stand being here for too long.  
  
“This ‘horrible place’, like you say, has a name.” Melody proudly raised her arms in the air. “This is Meridian, the glorious capital city of Metaworld.”  
  
“You’re calling _that_ glorious?” Mal snickered.  
  
“Don’t be rude Mal, I’m sure you’d like it if you stayed for a while.”  
  
“Yeah, of course, I’m already considering telling my mom to check up real estate prices.” Uma sassed, rolling her eyes long and hard.  
  
“Ah, how I missed your humor,” Melody told the Water Guardian with a giggle that didn’t sound natural.  
  
“Mel, please, enough with the nonsense, you need to come back home with us,” Audrey pleaded as she took small steps forward, reaching out to her best friend.

Melody didn’t take her hand, and let her smile drop as her face hardened, piercing blue gaze intensifying. “You really don’t understand, do you.” 

She tilted her head to the side. “I _am_ home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed this! It's started to get a little messy in here, isn't it?
> 
> Leave a comment!
> 
> Thank you for reading!  
> Xoxo


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my darlings!
> 
> Can this count as a double update as I took less than two months to post this? No? Okay. Well, hope you enjoy!

The silence that filled the Great Temple of Congregation was absolute. Striking. Chatter among the Council members, should they occur, would be the only noise disturbance the fortress would know. For there wasn’t even wind in Kandrakar, to hiss through the many ceiling-high windows. There weren’t any animals either. Therefore, the silence was so pure that had they been able to exist in this place, a single fly wandering the empty corridors would sound as loud as a chainsaw.

Which was why the rapid footsteps of one outraged Council member could be heard all across the place as she stormed towards the small room where the Oracle liked to retreat. Face distorted by anger, fists clenched tightly, Luba let out a grunt when she spotted Tibor, who stood by the entrance like a guard.

“I have to speak with the Oracle!” she vociferated, not slowing down the slightest as she approached the Oracle’s closest adviser.  
  
“Now isn’t the time. He is meditating,” Tibor countered more quietly, both of his hands remaining joined underneath the long, loose sleeves of his jade-colored robe.  
  
“I don’t care, let me through!”

Luba abruptly pushed past him, practically shoving him to the side. Tibor gasped in shock. Not only was it extremely rare for any Council member to be on such violent behavior, but it was an unspoken rule that one must never disturb the Oracle’s sacred meditation.

The Oracle had his back turned to them, legs bent underneath him and floating about a foot above a small pond filled with water lilies. His eyes were closed, but his moment of peace had long been terminated, for he had sure heard Luba coming, and now that she was near, her aura, rattled by rage, hit him and shook him like ocean waves.

“Pardon my intrusion Oracle but this couldn’t wait.” Luba’s tone was urgent as she stopped at the end of the pond.  
  
“Oracle, I am deeply sorry I couldn’t—” Tibor said, following close behind her.  
  
“It’s alright, Tibor,” the Oracle gently interrupted his loyal friend. “You know I always encourage that one speaks their mind when they feel the need to. Although, I must tell you I already know what’s troubling yours, Luba.”

Of course he did. There had been a shift in the energies the _second_ the Guardians crossed the portal to Metaworld, every being and spirit present in the fortress felt it. Luba, however, had been the only one to look deeper into it when it happened.

And because she still acknowledge that she had to show respect, Luba squatted down and put one knee on the ground with her head hanging lower, but her next words still came in groans. “These girls are inexperienced and reckless, Oracle, they are way too young. They should _not_ be the Guardians. They aren’t ready!”

The Oracle didn’t turn to face her. “I hear you, Luba. And you are right,” he said in his usual, very calm voice.

“Then we ought to do something. By opening a portal themselves and crossing the Veil, they’re endangering the balance between the worlds even more than it already is!” Luba insisted, irritated at the Oracle’s lack of reaction.  
  
“I know. But it is so written, we cannot interfere with destiny.”  
  
“That is not true! You know _you_ could stop it if you wanted to!”

Tibor sort of took personal offense that she talked to the Oracle like that, his frown deepening, “How dare you—”

But Luba ignored him and stood up to step even closer to the edge of the pond. “If the girls fail, then there will be no one to protect Kandrakar and the Veil from Phobos.”

“I am well aware, Luba. But as rash as the Guardians might be, their hearts are pure of intention. They are passionate, and brave. You can understand that, can you?” The Oracle finally turned his head to the side, allowing her to see that a small smile had drawn on his face. “I recall you were quite the same when you were young yourself, even though it was over four centuries ago.”

The sigh that left Luba’s mouth was one of deject and frustration at the feeling of not being taken seriously. “Oracle…”

“The girls were chosen, my friend. We must trust them.”

* * *

_“Mel, please, enough with the nonsense, you need to come back home with us,” Audrey pleaded as she took small steps forward, reaching out to her best friend._

_Melody didn’t take her hand, and let her smile drop as her face hardened, piercing blue gaze intensifying. “You really don’t understand, do you.”_

_She tilted her head to the side. “I_ am _home.”_

******

Audrey’s face fell. “W-what do you mean?”

The cheerful and friendly front Melody had put up just moments before had faded, instead giving way to a scowl that could only qualify as ominous. Her eyes suddenly seemed like they were made of icy steel as they pierced through Audrey’s head without blinking, basically adding to the idea – shared by all the other girls – that this encounter wasn’t going to end so well after all.

“It means that I learned a lot of things that have caused my life to change for the better,” Melody replied, straightening her back. “It means that I finally found out where I truly belong and that would be right here, in Meridian.”

Hearing her speaking those words and the way she spoke them, it would be impossible for anyone to believe that her and four out of the five Guardians had been such good friends up until the month before. Audrey in particular felt like her heart shattered in her ribcage, the pain of having her best friend in the whole wide world behaving as though their bond meant nothing reflected in the tears that were beginning to form at the corners of her eyes. The Earth Guardian felt herself being pulled back by a tug at her arm.

Melody also stepped back to stand by the huge reptilian monster’s side. “It also means that if you’re not with me, then you’re against me. And that’s too bad.”

“And in that case you leave us no choice,” he then growled.  
  
“Shit, that doesn’t sound good,” Mal muttered, releasing Audrey’s arm.  
  
“I really didn’t want to get to this, girls,” Melody said.  
  
“Guards! Seize them!”

It was as though they materialized out of nowhere. Soon, thirty or so blue, green and yellow skinned burly creatures wearing tarnished metallic armors and bearing heavy looking swords came out from every street corner. It took less than five seconds for the girls to be completely surrounded.

“Fuck, _fuck_!” Uma grunted as they all came closer together.

A couple of guards surged forward raising their swords high, ready to strike, but Mal blasted streams of flames from her hands towards the weapons, making them scorching hot at a record speed, causing the guards to drop them with a cry of pain. In the meantime, Jane rose from the ground once again, waving her arms around to generate a blast of wind that pushed more guards out of the way, opening a passage into the rest of the street.

“ _Run_!” Evie screamed, already on the move, as she randomly fired her pink energy blasts all around her to hold the guards at bay.  
  
“Don’t let them escape!” The voice of the monstrous lizard was heard as they took off.

Faster with her wings than the rest of them were on foot, Jane went on ahead and did her best to guide them through the dark, bleak streets of Meridian. It was only then that they saw some of its inhabitants, zigzagging between the townsfolk who actually turned out not to be that much of an obstacle, for they jumped out of their way fast enough on their own once they realized whom they were being chased by.

“This way!”, Jane would shout before taking a sharp turn to an adjacent street, with no prior warning of left or right, the rest of them just had to be quick on their feet, literally. From time to time and without ever stopping running, Evie blindly sent a couple of energy blasts behind her, hoping that it would hit the guards and not the civilians. They made it to a larger square where a market was held. The stone fountain in the middle of it allowed Uma to raise a wall of water behind them that did nothing more than to startle their assailants before it collapsed and soaked everyone and everything within thirty feet. At least it bought them a few precious seconds to find a better way to escape.

But overall, things were _not_ looking up.

In this moment, the city felt like a maze, an entanglement of narrow streets that all looked the same and uninviting dead-ends, that they had just lost themselves into. Which put them at disadvantage in their race against the guards who, unlike them, knew the place. As they turned around yet another street corner, the girls were met with the sight of some of said guards coming from the opposite direction, stopping them dead in their tracks.

Quick to react, Audrey dropped to her knees with both hands on the rough floor. With a loud rumbling sound, the ground quaked a little before some of it crumbled creating a rather large and deep hole between them and the hostile guards. Taken by surprise but unable to stop themselves in time, the ones that were closest to the girls fell right into it.

“If I wasn’t so scared for my life, I would’ve probably enjoyed this,” Uma grunted in short huffs. She had just crafted two long tentacles out of a puddle of muddy water that whipped at the guards that were still coming from the other side.  
  
“Same,” Mal said, shooting fire blast after fire blast. “It’s thrilling.”

They had all figured out by that point that the guards didn’t have any magic, just heavily armed and ferociously bloodthirsty. Which, technically, could be putting them at some sort of advantage in the battle. They were lighter, quicker. To a certain extent. Because magic just wasn’t all. Despite their biggest efforts to hold their opponents off, soon there were starting to be too many of them. And because none of the girls were used to use so much of their powers in such a short amount of time, it was undeniable that it was taking a toll on their stamina.

The noose was dangerously tightening around the Guardians of Kandrakar.

“Come on guys we have a chance if we all fly!” Jane urged her friends to join her, her air gusts getting less and less effective against the growing number of guards.  
  
“No way!” Audrey protested vehemently.

But Evie, also convinced that it was the only way, was already in the air, and Mal rushed to the pink brunette’s side along with Uma. “Come on princess we don’t have time for this.” The Fire and Water Guardians grabbed ahold of Audrey’s arms and instantly flew off with her.

Against her greatest will, the girl quickly found herself compelled to move her own wings to support her weight if she didn’t want to strain her shoulders, as they flew high over the army of guards. Higher, and higher again, above the roofs of the strange houses. From above, Meridian seemed endless but it was mainly because the atmosphere was even foggier aloft, and didn’t allow them to see very far ahead. Finding their way around the city was impossible at this altitude.

“C-can we p-please go down now?” Audrey asked weakly after they had put enough distance between them and the guards. Mal and Uma hadn’t let go of her, but her stomach was starting to churn very uncomfortably.

To her relief, her feet touched a solid surface mere seconds later, followed by her knees as she clutched her midsection, taking deep breaths. “God, I really _hate_ this,” the Earth Guardian mumbled to herself.

She was pulled up again when the others spotted a barn they could hide in until they figured out their next move.

“ _Phew_. I think we lost them,” Evie panted out once they were inside, a hand pressed against her rapidly pounding heart.  
  
“That was so fucking close,” Mal sighed, shaking her purple hair out of her face. “What now?”  
  
“We gotta make it back to the portal. We’ve spent enough time here,” Uma said.  
  
“Yes, we have!” Audrey wholeheartedly approved.  
  
“But how do we find it? We don’t even know where we are,” Mal pointed out with an inadvertent pout.  
  
“I think the Heart can lead us to it, like it did in Auradon City,” Evie stated.

Meanwhile, Jane carefully inched towards the only window of the barn to look out. “Guys, wait…” She perked up her ears. “ _Guys_!” The Air Guardian called louder to shush her friends. “Do you hear this?”

“Hear what?” Evie approached the window as well.

Distant screams. And rhythmical thuds, like a very heavy horse galloping.

“That!”

And it was louder and louder as it got closer, and soon they could see what was causing it.

It was _not_ a horse.

Coming down the street was a large, green, three horned rhinoceros-like creature mounted by an even bulkier beast with dark gray skin, long blond hair and pointed ears. It looked like a massive elf on steroids, wielding a sword that matched his size. The ground shook slightly from the force of their course.

“You can’t escape me Guardians! _No one_ can escape me!”

The girls watched them pass through the dirty glass, then the thumping stopped a little further.

“Uh oh,” Uma whispered, audibly more panicked than she was just a moment ago.  
  
“Great. Just what we needed,” Mal uttered in a whiny tone.

They hadn’t heard the door open. But then a short, shrill scream caught their attention and they looked to see the small figure of a child dressed in rags standing there, visibly frightened. Compared to a human of the same size, they weren’t older than six or seven years old. “W-w-who are you?”

“Hush, kiddo, we mean no harm,” Mal said gently, trying to ease the kid.  
  
“We just need to hide for a moment. Please keep quiet,” Evie followed on as she raised her index finger to her lips.  
  
“Is there someone after you?” the kid asked with a slight frown.  
  
“Well, apparently.” Uma’s sarcasm popped out as she shrugged. “Just some beast on a green rhino. No biggie.”

Soon as she said that, even through the dark green shade of the child’s skin, all colors could be seen leaving their face, their eyes growing wide and filling with fear as they stammered, “Y-y-you’re the ones F-F-Frost the hu-hunter is lo-looking for…”

With these words, the kid scampered back outside faster than any of them could’ve expected, yelling at the top of his lungs, “They’re in here Frost! I’m not hiding them I swear, they just came in! Please, please have mercy on me!”

Now, if ‘WTF’ was a person, there would actually be five of them.

“Fuck them kids, man!” Uma grumbled in pure annoyance.  
  
“You’re in no trouble, buddy. I knew they were near.” The hunter’s hoarse voice was heard as he and the rhino trotted back towards the barn. “See Guardians, my Crimson knows every odor in Meridian and right now he’s all worked up because of that _smell_ of yours.”

“Hol’up. What’s that supposed to mean? Did he just call us stinky?” the Water Guardian winced, offended.

Audrey glared. “I really don’t think that matters at the moment.”

“It’s over, Guardians! This barn only has one door and one window so you’re trapped. And wherever you go, I’ll find you!” Frost continued to shout threateningly. “You can either come out or I’ll come get you myself.”  
  
“Neither of these options sound convenient.” Jane shuddered. “What do we do? I’m getting too tired to use my powers against him.”  
  
“Me too. We need something to distract him from us so we can get the hell out of here,” Uma responded.

Mal’s eyes went wide. “Haven’t you heard him? No matter where we go he’ll follow us by smell.”

“No, wait, that could possibly work.” Evie scrunched her eyebrows, hands on her hips, feeling lights switching on in her brain one by one with a new idea. “If he gets in here and _sees_ us he probably won’t care if the rhino smells us going another way.”  
  
“Not sure I’m following.” Jane frowned too, in confusion.  
  
“I can use the Heart of Kandrakar to create an illusion!” Evie clarified.  
  
“That damn Heart again, it’s not Aladdin’s lamp!” Audrey argued with an exasperated huff.  
  
“Really?” Mal asked the blueberry haired Guardian, amazed that she even got this idea.  
  
“Yeah, I believe so.” Evie smiled at her before turning to Audrey. “It’s worth a try. Do you have a better plan?”

Audrey clenched her jaw as she couldn’t actually come up with one and giving in, rolled her eyes with a groan. Little did she know, the Heart could in fact pass for some kind of wish granter, should one be fully aware of all the properties of its universal, mystical essence. Thing that even Evie hadn’t managed to figure out yet. She had however had a teeny-weeny foretaste of it and that was enough for her to believe that yes, this could actually work. Despite the urgency of the current situation and the danger they were in, she was mostly eager to put the powers of the Heart to new uses.

She raised the small glowing globe into the air and called upon its energy to fulfill the demand she hadn’t actually had to formulate with words. Not conscious ones, anyway. The relic shot five beams of light towards the floor and swirls of white smoke rose from these spots. Slowly, there were feet, then legs and hips, torsos and arms, and finally heads materializing beneath the smoke.

The girls were soon faced with five motionless, disturbingly _perfect_ replicas of themselves in their Guardian outfits. The most disturbing thing was, undeniably, the eyes. All of them. The irises were dull, as though a thin veil covered them from behind, and they weren’t blinking. They weren’t even breathing. In all their accuracy, the copies were more like empty, soulless shells, very convincing illusions indeed.

And while she was as impressed with the Heart’s work as the rest of her friends were, Evie didn’t give them the time to gush over the magical creations and got everyone in position for the grand escape. The plan appeared simple. They had to lure the hunter into the barn – easy thing to do if they stayed inside long enough, he was already losing patience. The clones, as bait, were placed at the very back of the barn, just barely hidden by hay bales and Jane purposefully blew more hay all over the space to create more piles so that it would slow Frost’s progression towards them. In the meantime, the girls would stand by the exit, ready to leave as soon as Frost entered.

A rudimentary plan, that would only give them a few seconds head start. But those were seconds that could save their lives.

“Alright, you asked for it!”

A bestial growl, then loud thumping resonated from outside before the rhino burst into the barn like a giant cannonball with Frost still perched on its back, shattering the door in the process. The hunter’s eyes immediately caught sight of the fake Guardians and he howled in triumph, swinging his massive sword around, and just as he smashed through the hay to get to them, the real Guardians fled the scene.

Unfortunately, he only took a minute to realize he had been fooled, and was back on their trail in no time, enraged as all hell. Once again choosing height as shelter, the Guardians rushed towards the first flight of stairs they came across.

_AAAAARGHHH_

The ear-piercing, bone chilling scream tore the humid air as they found themselves on a flat roof that conveniently turned out to have a concrete fence they could crouch behind to shield themselves from view. The girls all shared looks until they quickly came to the horrific realization that they were one short.

Judging by the smoke coming from the pavement below them, Mal had tried to hold Frost back by creating a shield of flames between him and them, at the risk of slowing herself down, which had badly backfired because…

… Frost had caught her.

“Good job, Frost,” the huge lizard monster appeared at his side, seemingly out of nowhere. He was smirking evilly. “But where are the others?”  
  
“You’ll get them soon,” the hunter said, before he shouted into the rest of the street. “Because they’ll come on their own, if they don’t want to see their friend suffer!”

The scene below was heart-wrenching to behold. In comparison to Frost’s monstrous frame, Mal was ridiculously tiny and he had no trouble restraining both of her arms behind her back with one hand while the other held the sword dangerously close to her head. When the Fire Guardian tried to struggle and kick behind her in a poor attempt to break herself free, he only tightened his grip and twisted her arms more, making her cry out in pain as he effortlessly forced her onto her knees.

“Don’t listen to him!” she still screamed as loud as she could.

That was the moment when a smug looking Melody walked from behind her lizard companion to stand beside Mal, who glared at her with nothing but hatred as the sharp blade of Frost’s sword inched closer to her neck.

“Shut up!” Frost spat. “This is my last warning Guardians! Show yourselves or I’ll paint the floor with her blood!”  
  
“No! Don—”

She was cut off by Melody, who flicked her wrist with a smirk. “Now now, Mal. You don’t need to be so loud.”

Following that, Mal was screaming nonetheless. Or rather, her face indicated that she was. But not a single sound left her open mouth anymore.

“Oh my God, did she just take her voice?” Jane hissed in horror.  
  
“We can’t just stay here, we have to do something!” Uma whispered angrily through gritted teeth.  
  
“And also tell your goon to take it down a few notches. We agreed on capturing them, not hurting them,” Melody told the lizard monster while she held his gaze warningly.

“ _Evie, if you can hear me..._ ”

Evie’s breath hitched in her throat as Mal’s voice echoed through her head. She could see that the purple haired girl had stopped resisting completely and had her head hanging low, probably to hide the fact that she was now sporting that bright green glow in her eyes caused by her use of telepathy. “ _Go away. Get to safety._ ”

Evie blinked in disbelief, feeling the rest of her body freezing. There was no way Mal could be asking her to do that.

“ _Are you insane? We’re not leaving you!_ ”  
  
“ _I’m not fucking asking, E,_ ” Mal insisted.

The monster ended his intense staredown with Melody with a sigh, to turn to Frost. “Just go lock her up—”

“ _M, please…_ ”  
  
“ _I’ll handle myself. Go. Away!_ ”

“—the others will show up eventually.”

The four Guardians watched as the hunter dragged Mal towards his rhino to retrieve a couple of heavy cuffs that he used to bind her hands and then her legs. He hoisted her up on her stomach across the animal’s back like she was a rag doll before climbing behind her.

“ _Mal—_ ”  
  
“ _Leave!_ ”

That was the last thing Mal said before cutting the mental line, then the hunter took off, quickly disappearing from view. Melody and the oversized lizard walked away as well.

The street was quiet again.

And Mal had just been taken prisoner.

“We’re leaving,” Evie declared resolutely.

To say that the others were shocked to hear that was an understatement.

“You can’t be serious…” Uma scoffed.  
  
“What about Mal?” Jane gasped.  
  
“Have you lost your damn mind?” Audrey blurted.

But the Heart Guardian didn’t back down. “Mal wants us to go. So we’re going.” Standing up, she ignored the appalled looks she was getting from her friends. “Back to the portal. Now.”

* * *

The fight wasn’t over.

“I’ve doubted your decisions before, but you _really_ gotta help me with this one because I really don’t understand _why the hell_ you would choose to leave Mal to _them_!”

Audrey wasn’t even trying to contain herself anymore, the subtle jabs she was so used to throw at Evie turning into full screams and for once, Evie was reciprocating the energy. They returned the underground corridor under Melody’s house faster than any of them would have thought, all equally shaken and distraught at what had just taken place in Meridian. Horrified that one of their own was held captive by their enemies. And most importantly, aghast that they hadn’t done anything to prevent it.

The Earth Guardian hadn’t wasted one second after they made it back to savagely lash out at Evie, and now Uma and Jane just watched, powerless, the two brunettes going at each other’s throats.

“I simply did what Mal asked us to do!” Evie retorted, and it did felt strange, to hear her usually soft-spoken self speak so brutally.  
  
“And when exactly did she say that? You saw like me that Melody silenced her!” Audrey bawled, face red with fury.  
  
“She told me by thought!”

The sneer Audrey let out dripped with scorn at this answer. “Oh, she told _you_ huh.”

“What, you think I’m lying?”  
  
“I don’t know, are you?” Audrey looked the other girl up and down. “Why didn’t she contact the rest of us, too?”  
  
“ _I don’t know_!” Evie bellowed then, so loudly you’d think she tore her vocal chords. “I don’t know, okay? She just did!”

Finally, the Air Guardian stepped in, having had enough of the screaming. “Guys, please. Fighting won’t solve anything. We need to figure out what to do now.”

“Well why don’t you ask our beloved _leader_ since her and her stupid Heart hold all the answers,” Audrey spat.  
  
“That’s not true and you know it.” Evie made a move forward but was stopped by Uma, who came to stand in between them.  
  
“Fucking hell, stop it, both of you!” The Water Guardian shouted, braids whipping through the air as she looked from one girl to the other. “Yeah, it’s hella fucked up that we left Mal behind and even more fucked up that _she_ would tell Evie to leave her there _but_ —” She emphasized that one word when she saw both Evie and Audrey about to argue, one hand up because she wasn’t going to let herself be interrupted. “—I believe her. Y’all know this side of Mal like I do. Bitch was probably trying to protect us.”

With an angry groan, Audrey turned around and crossed her arms over her chest while Evie tried to calm herself by taking deep breaths.

“It does sound like something she’d do. But now there’s no one to protect her,” Jane sighed, on the verge of tears. “Who knows what they’ll do to her.”  
  
“Well, despite turning into a twisted she-devil Melody seemed to be opposed to the idea of harming her,” Uma said.  
  
“How considerate of her,” Audrey muttered under her breath, her back still to them.  
  
“It is, actually. Because it also gives us some time to figure out how to get her out,” Uma responded firmly. “But in the meantime, we can’t afford to have anyone asking questions about her whereabouts.”

A shiver in her voice made her pause for a second. “First Melody, now Mal, people will start to suspect us.”

“How about these doubles that we made to distract the hunter?” Evie suggested in a much more composed tone than before.  
  
“These were just brainless dummies,” Jane remarked.  
  
“Yeah, but if we all focus on one, maybe it can be more convincing.”

Glances were exchanged. Skeptical, unsure, but also knowing that it was their best shot at covering up Mal’s absence until they get her back. Nodding in agreement, Evie, Jane and Uma gathered in a circle then looked towards Audrey, who hadn’t moved from her remote spot.

“Hmmf,” the Earth Guardian huffed giving them a side glance.  
  
“Don’t be such a hard ass and get here, we need you,” Uma commanded sternly.

Audrey’s eyes rolled hard in their sockets, but then, albeit reluctantly, she went to place herself between Uma and Jane, directly across from Evie to whom she shot a very dark glare.

But the darker brunette didn’t pay any mind to her, instead summoning the Heart of Kandrakar again and raising it in front of her. “Are you ready?”

The three other Guardians also raised their hands, closed their eyes, and focused. Drawing on what remained of their energy to accomplish that last task. It was hard. They were exhausted, stressed, with a mix of other angsty emotions all over the place. This magic that they wanted to perform was beyond anything they had done so far but they _had_ to succeed. They had to…

“It didn’t work,” Jane whispered with a disappointed look on her face.

Evie shook her head, her closed eyes preventing the hot, stinging tears from falling. “Let’s try one more time.”

_It has to work._

She was unable to tell if the pulsing she felt on the side of her neck was her own or the Heart’s – maybe both – but Evie didn’t let go. She couldn’t. She mustn’t.

_It has to work. For Mal._

Mal.

To counter the hardship of digging through the depths of her power, she pictured the girl’s face in her mind. Her bright, playful, _vibrant_ green orbs. How fascinating was that color. Her pouty lips, and the cute dimple that popped out when she smiled. She imagined her laugh and the way that crimson tint would reach her cheeks whenever she was embarrassed. Gosh, that happened way too often for a single human being. She thought of the wind ruffling her long, light golden tresses and how she never cared that it had gotten messy by the end of a long school day… Anything, anything to avoid the very vivid image of her friend in the grip of that awful beast, deprived of her voice but helpless and desperate in thought, alone in Meridian.

_It has to work._

Through her eyelids, Evie discerned a flash of light and her eyes shot open, to get amazed at two things. One, her and the other girls were back to wearing their day clothes. They had used so much energy that it had been enough to reverse their transformation. And two…

“Wow. Y’all look terrible.”

Jane’s hands covered her mouth as she squealed. Uma and Audrey just stared in utter awe, lips parted. In the middle of their circle stood the nonchalant figure of a five-four, blonde haired, emerald eyed girl with her hands in the pockets of her dark purple hoodie.

“What? Is there something on my face?” she spoke again, her eyebrows knitting.

“We did it.” Evie’s voice came out as a murmur and she really felt like she could cry of relief.  
  
“That’s _so_ weird. She looks and sounds exactly like Mal,” Jane noted, still unable to believe what she was seeing.  
  
“Uh, maybe because _I am_ Mal?” the clone sassed like she wasn’t just that, the magical fruit of their combined efforts.  
  
“And she’s got the repartee, too. It’ll do just fine,” Uma commented with a shrug.  
  
“It’s creepy.” Audrey finally snapped out of her admiration. “This isn’t _right_ , I can’t believe we—”

The brown skinned girl raised her hand, cutting her off. “Well, we don’t have much choice. If Mal hadn’t come home by this evening her mom would’ve thrown the entire planet in jail.”

“We did have another choice,” Audrey countered.  
  
“For the last time Audrey, Mal _demanded_ for us to leave,” Evie said wearily. “Besides, this is only temporary because we’ll go back.”

She set her gaze upon Mal’s clone, who quietly listened to their conversation but looked like she was trying to understand a foreign language, with that same expression that the blonde had when she was confused. They’d _really_ done it. Now far from being an empty shell, the physical and behavioral resemblance was, indeed, shockingly striking. Surely not a single soul would be able to see through their trick. Not even her own mother. No one but them, because there was no way they could forget where the real Mal actually was.

The thought was truly heartbreaking. “We’ll go back to Meridian and free her even if it’s the last thing we do.”

_We’ll bring you home. It’s a promise, M._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now THAT is messed up. Please don't hate me for it... What do you think will happen to Mal? 
> 
> Wait 'til the next chapter to find out! ;)
> 
> You're allowed to take your frustration out in the comments though. Or even if you're not frustrated, I'll greatly appreciate it. But most of all, I appreciate YOU! 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! *kisses*


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